Explore.

Your initial wariness is overcome by burning curiosity, just as it almost always was. What if the perverse overtones were a clever facade meant to hide something? Maybe it had shipping lanes... or account numbers? What if... Your imagination quickly spirals out of control as you examine the innocuous music player. Your colleagues always warned you to play it safe or you’d end up in an early grave... but come on, a mystery was lying right there on your desk. In the safety of your own home it's just too much to pass up. You could feel the unknown calling to you and it wasn’t like you’d be able to sleep without recovering some answers anyway.

With a spark of excitement fluttering in your heart you start to pan through the data...

If this was a facade, it was a damned complicated one. There were dozens of Tracks, most with a list of “modifiers” applied. You think there might be something to the “Template” list, which was a series of amateur mug shots with unpleasantly detailed bios for each of their occupants. You recognize a couple: wealthy men with assumed criminal connections. Everyone knew they were dirty. They just couldn't prove it. After some brainstorming all you can think of is that it’s a list of backers or maybe clients, the faces and their clothing are too well-kept to be members of a gang. You pause as a new thought enters your mind: what if they’re targets?

Your mind spins for a while from that revelation but soon you’re out of ideas. The only thing left would be to go through the sound and video files themselves but...

“Oh come on Victoria! It’s just a video, it can’t hurt you!”

All the same, you hesitate as the blank gaze of the students flashes before your eyes.