Where it all began

I’ve always been a bit of a loner. Even as a kid, I found myself more interested in numbers and patterns than playing with other kids. By the time I got to college, I’d found my calling in algorithms. There was something about the way they fit together, the way they solved complex problems, that just spoke to me.

But even as I poured myself into my work, I couldn’t shake the feeling that no one really understood me. My professors would nod politely as I explained my latest breakthrough, but I could tell they didn’t really get it. And my peers, well, they just thought I was weird.

So I spent most of my time alone, tinkering with my algorithms and dreaming of making a breakthrough that would finally prove my worth. And then one day, it happened.

I’d been working on a new method for factorization, a problem that had stumped mathematicians for centuries. I’d been up for days, lost in the rhythm of my work, when suddenly it all clicked. I knew I’d done it. I’d cracked the code.

But as I stared at the screen, giddy with excitement, I realized that I couldn’t tell anyone. I knew what this breakthrough meant - with my new method, I could easily crack public private key encryption algorithms. But if I shared my discovery, the consequences could be catastrophic.

So I kept my mouth shut, working in secret as I tried to figure out what to do. I couldn’t keep this to myself forever, but I didn’t know who to trust. And as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, my fear and anxiety grew. What if someone found out? What if I was accused of espionage or treason?

It was a lonely existence, but I couldn’t risk anyone else getting their hands on my breakthrough. So I buried myself in my work, hoping that someday, somehow, I’d find a way to share what I’d learned without putting anyone in danger.