Since he was a young child, his forte had been solving puzzles, putting together the missing pieces, creating a brilliant whole out of a sum of unfathomable parts. And yet he had been unable to piece together the one puzzle that would have made him whole.

So, he focused his energy on what he knew he could do well. To those who knew him in his daily life, he was Matt the business consultant. The Latino guy with the mad computer skills.

But on the side, he created an online identity known as ‘Condor’. Then he formed a hacktivist group. And named it the Forum. The origin of the word stemmed back to Roman times, when a forum was the place to conduct judicial and public business. Wasn’t that what the consortium of white hat hackers were doing? And if they had a gladiator-like edge, more power to them. Literally.

The Forum’s triumphs exposing social injustices and pressuring government organizations were edged with bittersweet. Matt had once dreamt of him and Leah righting wrongs together, modern-day cyber gladiators. So, after he launched the Forum, he invited Leah. His heart had leaped when she joined. He had hoped—foolishly, in retrospect—that working together on the Forum might bridge the distance between Halifax and Fort Lauderdale. It might just give them another chance.

Ironically, Leah met AggroBoy there. Matt didn’t trust the guy. But he couldn’t warn his ex-girlfriend because he knew Leah would guess that Matt still had feelings for her.

And he couldn’t convince Leah that AggroBoy’s scheme to break into the Owen house was rash, dangerous. She had pointed out there was no other choice. Not if they wanted the truth to come out. Look at what had happened to Edward Snowden. He had blown the whistle—and was forced to abandon his family, his career, his country. His own government viewed him as a traitor, and charged him under the Espionage Act, a criminal act that would not allow him to defend himself on the grounds of public interest.

So there it was. Do they keep quiet about Leah’s discovery because she could be prosecuted as a traitor of the country she was trying to protect? Or do they try to do something that was in and of itself illegal—but with minimal harm—and keep Leah safe from criminal indictment? AggroBoy had assured them that no one would be home when Leah and he broke into the Owen house. It was a simple cyber exploit. They should be in and out in ten minutes, max, AggroBoy told them.

The other hackers on the Forum supported AggroBoy’s crazy plan. In fact, they egged on AggroBoy and WhiteDwarf, excited that the online boundaries of the Forum were being pushed.

Matt lost the argument. Matt aka Condor had been overthrown by his own supporters. And the Forum had a new ruler.

His name was AggroBoy.