Ten years ago
I was 11 years old, sitting on the floor with my head leaning against the bookshelf. Just a moment earlier, I had taken all the books down and decided to reorganize them from scratch. The number of books was too many and it was starting to annoy me. I remember thinking, "I wish I could arrange all of these with just one move," because that would have been so much easier. Why had I even taken them all down? I decided to keep arranging them and stood up. Humming a song that was popular at the time, I picked up a book from the floor, but when I reached out to put it back on the shelf, my hand was suddenly covered with dark purple smoke. The smoke began to spread everywhere, and in fear I dropped the book. As I screamed and backed away, my foot caught on another book and I fell on my hip. Looking at my hand, I screamed again because the smoke was still there, rising toward my face. Before I could understand what was happening, the door opened and my father came in. He immediately sat beside me and asked if I was okay, then noticed the smoke. He took my hand into his large hands, and on his face there was not shock or fear but calmness—perhaps even pride. He swallowed and smiled at me, saying, "Don't worry, Ursula, my dear… please stay calm. I know this is hard, I know." Then he explained about special powers in a way I could understand, telling me that my mother, who had died after giving birth to me, also had such an ability. He said I could use this power at home but must never tell anyone, otherwise they would use me as a "test subject." At the time I didn't know what that meant, but it sounded frightening. Then my father told me to get ready and left the room. I put something on and went to him, and soon we got into the car and entered a blue building. When I asked why we were going into a normal building, he said, "You will see." We took the elevator, and suddenly he pressed all the buttons. I shouted, "What are you doing?" because I was scared, and then the elevator screen showed -3. My father said this was a secret section. When we entered, I realized it was like the places I had seen in movies where agents worked. Was my father an agent? When I asked, he told me he was the leader of this agent organization, which was very surprising and cool to me. He introduced me to a few agents and some places, and then decided to train me. He taught me several tasks that required agility, and my purple smoke ability helped me improve. By then, I had learned how to transform the smoke into anything I wanted—even a sword or a weapon. One day, after finishing my training, my head was aching, so I wandered around aimlessly. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic, like in hospitals I had been used to, and the scent made my head spin. The purple smoke was still lingering in my hand, and I tried to contain it with my right hand. At that moment, I heard a voice behind me saying, "You're Ursula, right?" I turned around and saw a small girl, probably my age. I nodded, still dizzy, and replied, "Yes??" The girl stepped closer and said, "Look, stay calm. Because you're not calm, you can't control your power. Take a deep breath." For some reason, I listened and took a deep breath, and she watched me closely. "See? You have to calm down," she added, then introduced herself. Her name was Beatrice, and just like that, I realized that I had met this girl—who would become my friend for the next ten years—in the strangest possible way
***
NOW
While sitting randomly on a bench in the park, flowers from the apple tree just behind me fluttered in the wind and finally landed either in my hair or my lap. Like a newborn baby, I watched the people walking by, the children playing hide-and-seek in the corner, and the two elderly women feeding pigeons a little further away—all with curiosity.Just as I was getting carried away by this gentle game, my phone rang. I looked at the screen. Of course, who else could it be but Dad? My finger was about to touch the red "decline" button, but I changed my mind—it might be important. I tapped the green button. Dad immediately told me to come right away—there was an urgent meeting.
I stood up from the bench, brushed the flowers out of my hair and off my lap. After making sure I was free of every last petal, I began walking toward the company. I was there in no time.
I entered the three-story building and hurriedly stepped into the elevator. I pressed all the floor buttons, because if I pressed them all, I would reach a secret floor. While waiting for the elevator doors to open, I was picking at the skin of my thumb with the nail of my index finger. I knew it was a harmful habit, but I couldn't stop myself. Finally, the elevator doors opened and I stepped inside. In front of me stood a door—made of a material I couldn't quite remember.
To pass through, I had to scan my retina, my fingerprint, and the chip embedded in my ID. I did all of it, and the door opened. Right ahead was a massive infinity symbol. This emblem of Infinity represented unlimited power and unlimited secrecy. Immediately to my right, inside a glass room, our technology expert Lolia was working on a cutting-edge device. She looked at me and greeted me with a nod. I nodded back. Then Lolia glanced at her watch—her eyes widened in shock. She dropped the screwdriver in her hand and rushed out of the room. Turning to me, she said:
"Ursula, we're going to be late for the meeting."
We hurried together toward the meeting room. At the door, my father was waiting for us. He turned to both of us and asked why we were late. Lolia explained that she had been adding an update to the device she was working on, and my father forgave her. Then he turned to me:
"And you, Ursula? Weren't you sitting on the bench, questioning life?"
I looked at him in fear. "Father? How do you know I was—"
He cut me off sharply. "You will not call me 'Father.' Remember? That's the first rule. Second—I know everything. And fourth—get inside now. -I think he forgot third one .-I'm coming."
Immediately, Lolia and I rushed inside, greeted the others, and took our seats.
Beatrice looked at me and giggled. I shot her a mock deadly glare. She knew I was joking, and smiled back. When my father entered, however, her smile was gone.Now she was serious.
I had barely sat down when Dad entered the room. We all stood up, but after a nod from him—his usual "sit down" gesture—we returned to our seats. For a moment, it felt just like being in middle school again. He sat at the head of the table, scanned the room, cleared his throat, and began:
"According to our intel, a cruise ship will depart tomorrow evening at 8 PM, traveling from England to Turkey. On board will be famous businessmen and distinguished figures—you know who I mean. But there's a looming threat of a digital attack that could impact the entire world."
He paused and turned to me. Then continued:
"And Ursula, this is where you come in."
I nodded quickly.
"Alright, Dad—uh, I mean Boss. Sorry. So, what exactly will I be doing?"
Dad found my moment of hesitation amusing and smiled as he continued:
-Your mission is to locate and neutralize whatever device—be it a USB or something else—contains the attack code.
I nodded again and, carefully choosing my words, cleared my throat before replying:
-Understood, sir. I will carry out the mission successfully. You can count on me.
Even though I didn't call him "Dad" that time, he still smiled. Then his gaze turned to Beatrice, who had been listening attentively. The moment Dad looked at her, she sensed he had something in mind for her too.She looked back at him, wondering what he'd say. Without breaking eye contact, Dad said:
"Beatrice, you're going with Ursula."
She nodded:
-Understood, sir. I will carry out the mission with honor.
Her obedient tone toward my father made me chuckle inwardly. I shot her a subtle smile, which seemed to ease her tension just a bit—though she still looked on edge.
Once Dad announced the meeting was over, everyone relaxed and slowly began leaving the room.Meanwhile, my mind was already racing toward tomorrow's mission.
I came home. Under the warmth of a shower, I thought about what tomorrow might bring. After finishing my shower, I put on my pajamas and lay down in bed. Too lazy to dry my hair, I wrapped it in a towel. I lay down again. Though I felt anxious, the soothing effect of the hot shower and the weariness of the day lulled me to sleep...