Day Two hundred and twenty two - Kathy's song (come lie next to me)

Her name had been burned into my very imagination for years - ever since I was a child, I'd wanted to know more about her and her life. But no one knew much about her - not only had she been mostly reclusive for a large part of her life, there are no interviews on record, nothing that could shed any light into the mystery of her life. Everyone knew her to the writer's muse, to whom he dedicated his entire body of work. But this elusive creature was seldom seen, though now and again someone with snap a picture of her. 

And as with everything that tries its hardest to remain out of sight, and out of mind, eventually people started to forget about her. Though some... some still remembered. Some still wondered. Some still sought out her story. I am one such soul, my curiosity and my devotion to the myth of her never having wavered. I waited years and years for this day, toiled long and hard to get to where I am now. The timing of everything had to be impeccable. Nothing could be left to chance.

I made my way to a data center that day, one I knew was lacking in security. I could attempt a secure, encrypted connection there, and if everything went according to plan, I'd do it undetected. It was a gamble, to be sure, one that could come to cost me dearly, but it's something that I know deep in my heart I must do.

Some time back, I'd come across a classified piece of information. Something, I think, I was never meant to know. But also something that I jumped at with great enthusiasm. Somewhere in the city lies a depository of information that has been locked away from the public eye. There are many, many stories and secrets there, but they were not meant to be accessed. The city doesn't want its denizens to know. But I must know, I must.... even if that costs me my life.

I successfully procured an encrypted passkey that would circumvent the security systems that are set up. I pondered for a long time about the wisdom of such a move, though I knew I was fated to do it. Now is the time. Now is the moment of ultimate truth. I'm sitting looking at a screen in a darkened room. No sounds but the soft whirs of the computer can be heard. 

I hear a voice in my head : 

'Initiate access procedures'

- passkey in hand, I insert it into the slot.

...........

- stored in the passkey are digital renders of another set of optics, it scans them, not mine.

'Retinal scan complete' 

...........

'Please enter your digital access code'

...........

- the passkey has a button, and when I press it it runs a code through the security system.

'Access granted'

I search through countless databases, searching for very specific keywords. For what seems like an eternity, I get no hits. I start searching with different patterns, and eventually I find something - one file. That's it. That's all there is. But it's locked behind a firewall so strong that to overcome it I have to do something truly desperate. But I had accepted my fate when I decided to do this. I do down this deep well, and open up my mind to the source of all.

...........

'Connecting to neural net'

...........

It's there, in all its glory. The great secret behind the mystery that drove me here. With a trepidation, I open the file. It's a digital audio file, and when I play it, I hear it. I hear her song. It would be the last thing I'd ever hear.