Carla didn’t answer. She stared at the screen. Her eyes were like lasers scanning data. “Tracing IP address… Bypassing firewall… Accessing backdoor server…” Carla whispered to herself.
Meanwhile, in a condo unit in Quezon City, the group of scammers was celebrating.
“Jackpot, boys! Five hundred thousand! Just one click from a stupid father!” shouted their leader, Boss Kadyo. They were already opening beers and counting the money.
Kadyo held the laptop, intending to transfer the money to an offshore account so it couldn’t be recovered.
Suddenly…
ERROR. ACCESS DENIED.
“Huh? What happened?” Kadyo asked, surprised. “Did we lose the internet?”
Suddenly, the light on their laptop screen went out. When it turned back on, the background was red. A large image of a Skull appeared on the screen.
Their bank accounts—not just Ramon’s, but also their millions in stolen wealth—suddenly hit zero balance.
SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED.
“Boss! I can’t control the mouse!” shouted one henchman.
“Boss! Our CCTV outside just died!”
“Boss! The electronic door lock won’t open! We’re trapped!”
Back at Ramon’s house.
Carla pressed ENTER firmly.
“Gotcha,” Carla whispered.
She turned to face Ramon, whose jaw was on the floor.
“I’ve recovered the P500,000 back to our account, Ramon. All of their assets are frozen, too. And I’ve sent their GPS location to Director Santos of the NBI Cybercrime Division.”
“D-Director Santos?” Ramon stammered. “You know the NBI?”
Carla sighed. She closed the laptop.
“Ramon, before I became your wife and Jun-jun’s mother… I was Agent Cipher. I was formerly the Head of Cybersecurity for the Intelligence Agency. I retired because I wanted a quiet life. But they messed with my family.”
Carla stood up and straightened her house dress (daster).
“Don’t worry. Our son’s operation is secured.”
On the other end, at the scammers’ hideout, they couldn’t get out. The lights were out. The system was dead.
Suddenly… BOOOOGSH!
NBI Agents broke down the door.
“NBI! NOBODY MOVE! GET DOWN!”
Boss Kadyo and his men were caught in the act. They were in total shock. How were they tracked so fast? How was their secure server hacked?
As Kadyo was being handcuffed, the NBI Director approached and looked at the criminals’ laptop. He saw the digital signature left on the screen. A small logo of a “Happy Face” winking.
The Director smiled. “I knew it. The Queen is awake again.”
At home, Ramon hugged his wife tightly. He couldn’t believe it. The wife he thought was just a simple cook and laundry woman was actually a legend capable of taking down a syndicate using only an old laptop and Wi-Fi.
From then on, whenever Carla opened her laptop, Ramon didn’t ask questions anymore. He just made her coffee, knowing their family was safe as long as his commander’s hands were on the keyboard.