Chapter 81

“You’ll restore it?” Shanley rose to his feet, his eyes fixed on the girl, a knowing smile playing on his thin lips. She certainly didn’t sound like she was joking.
“Can I use that?” Juniper scanned the room, her gaze settling on an old office computer.
“Y-yes, of course.” Carl, still stunned by her declaration, stammered for a moment before asking, “Juniper, have you studied computer science?”
“I know a little,” Juniper replied nonchalantly as she sat down at the desk.
“Juniper, this is the original data drive from the shop’s security system,” an officer said, respectfully handing her a USB drive.
Juniper took it and began importing the files. Her ten fingers flew across the keyboard, opening some kind of black software interface. But after several moments of frantic typing, the screen remained unchanged. The deleted footage was still marked as “Data Corrupted.”
After watching Juniper’s flurry of activity yield no results, Dustin’s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally dropped back into place. He’d thought she was some kind of prodigy, but it seemed she was all talk.
“Juniper, is it working?” Qadir whispered, his palms sweating.
“Anyone else might fail, but Juniper?” Queenie said, crossing her arms thoughtfully. She then declared with conviction, “She’s not just anyone!”
Anything Juniper set her mind to, she accomplished.
“Sir, should I still call for the hacker?” Felton leaned in and asked Shanley quietly. Ms. Payne had been at it for a while with no progress. She probably didn’t know what she was doing.
“No need.” Shanley remained seated, his deep-set eyes intently watching her fingers. Every keystroke was related to programming; she wasn’t just typing randomly. If he wasn’t mistaken, the precinct’s computer system was too outdated, so she was building a new program from scratch.
This girl was a hidden gem. Interesting. A slight smile graced Shanley’s lips, his gaze filled not just with fondness, but also with genuine admiration.
“Beep-beep—
11
Five minutes later, the dark screen suddenly flickered with a page of symbols. Ten seconds later, the symbols vanished and were replaced by a green interface.
[System Build Successful]
Juniper arched an eyebrow with a roguish flair and continued to type. Soon, the corrupted surveillance footage reappeared on the screen.
“It’s back!” Qadir exclaimed, running over to stand behind her. “Juniper, you’re amazing! I want to be your apprentice!”
Juniper glanced back at him with a smile.
Watching her smile so brightly at someone else, the warmth in Shanley’s eyes instantly cooled. He was not pleased.
Carl craned his neck to get a better look, confirming that the original data was indeed being restored.
As the footage played, beads of cold sweat dripped down Dustin’s forehead.
Finally, after a few more minutes, the corrupted video was fully recovered. The screen clearly showed the Eclara High students harassing Dolce first. Juniper had approached to mediate, but they had responded with verbal abuse and then physical aggression. Waheed’s injuries were a result of him tripping and falling while trying to attack Juniper. As for the other boys…
Carl rubbed his temples. It was almost too embarrassing to watch. Several large boys ganged up on one slender girl and still couldn’t win. What a disgrace.
Who would have thought that the small, quiet girl was such a formidable fighter?