The stranger explains

Project Timeshifter was a sensitive subject in the organization. It had been shut down barely a couple months after it had started, for it was considered the their largest failure - a black mark in the organization's record.

The organization had destroyed almost everything related to the project. Nearly every detail about it was classified at the highest level. The only reason Eva she even knew it existed was because of her mentor, Valerie, who had gone MIA while on a mission to retrieve the only remaining evidence that the project even existed. Eva had managed to sneak a peek at Valerie's mission files before they had been removed from the org's records.

"A data chip - the last remaining trace of the project.", the stranger said, interrupting her thoughts. "That's what Kaiser is selling."

Eva was seated on her sofa, freshly brewed coffee in hand, still only wearing her towel. "Hold on a second - that chip alone is worthless. It's encrypted, useless without the decryption key. Don't tell me you can brute **** it - it will self-destruct if the wrong key is entered more than three times.", she said skeptically.

Eva wasn't a bad host, for she had brewed a cup for the stranger too. They sipped their drink and replied, "Word on the street is that the buyer already has the decryption key. During the gala, our favorite hip hop artiste is going to sell them the lock."

"How do you know all this?", she asked.

"Well, remember how I said the chip is the last remaining trace of the project? Well, not quite. There's one other survivor:" the stranger replied, "me."

"No. Fucking. Way.", replied Eva. "You're bullshitting me."

"I don't know what to say. I'm telling you the truth."

"Every test subject involved in that super-soldier experiment died. That's why they shut it down almost as soon as it started."

"All except one."

Eva leaned back in her sofa, unable to accept what she had just learned. "I don't believe you.", she replied in disbelief. "Prove it."