Binary

Chapter 1: Echoes of Silence.

Amrah leaned in close to the mirror, her dark curls springing to life in protest to her futile attempts to tame them. With a roll of her eyes, she muttered under her breath, "Alright, hair, let's play nice today, yeah?"

At seventeen, Amrah existed in a world of her own, navigating the complexities of human interaction like a tourist in a foreign land. While she got along well enough with her parents, there was always this invisible barrier, like they were speaking different languages. Their conversations felt scripted, lacking any real depth or spontaneity.

Amrah's entrance into the world wasn't your run-of-the-mill tale of conception. Nope, it involved a so-called "miracle-working" doctor who promised to sprinkle his magic fertility dust on her parents' woes. After six months of trials that probably made lab rats feel lucky, they hit the jackpot - Amrah's mom was pregnant!

Discovering her knack for all things tech was like stumbling upon a hidden talent, except instead of painting pretty pictures, she could hack into any device faster than you could say "password123." It started innocently enough, like turning a digital billboard into her personal GPS system during a mall meltdown or intercepting texts before they reached her phone.

But as she got older, her tech prowess became borderline eerie. By seventeen, she could control her phone with Jedi-like powers, no hands needed. It was cool and creepy all at once, like finding out your cat's been reading your texts.

High school was a maze, but Amrah found solace in her admiration for Mr. Thompson, the principal. He was like the Dumbledore of the school, except with better suits and a killer sense of humor. She secretly hoped he had a magic wand hidden somewhere in his office, ready to zap away algebra tests with a flick of his wrist.

Their friendship was slow to bloom, mostly consisting of awkward hallway nods and the occasional "Hey, nice tie" exchange. But Amrah couldn't shake the feeling that Mr. Thompson held the key to unlocking the mysteries that lurked beneath her tech-savvy surface. Plus, she had a sneaking suspicion he was hiding a secret stash of chocolate bars in his desk drawer.