"Not empty, actually," the tall witch corrected, her voice low and calm as they approached a larger hallway.
The witch stopped in front of the main office doors, and Ruby’s eyes narrowed as she took in the scene. The room was packed with people—dozens of them, all dressed in official-looking attire. Most stood in clusters, whispering among themselves, while others paced back and forth with worry etched on their faces.
Ruby stepped inside, her gaze sweeping over the gathering. Every face seemed tense, brows furrowed, eyes darting nervously as if they were on the edge of disaster.
"Are you Ruby?" a voice called out from the far end of the room. It was raspy, tired, and heavy with age.
Ruby turned her head to find the source. An older witch stood there, her posture slightly hunched but her gaze sharp. Her gray hair was tied back neatly.
"Yes," Ruby replied, nodding once. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she studied the woman. "What’s this about?"
The old woman didn’t waste time on pleasantries. "Miss Ruby, we won’t beat around the bush. We’re in trouble," she said bluntly, stepping closer.
Ruby tilted her head, her curiosity now fully piqued. "What kind of trouble?"
The woman sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging with the weight of the situation. "Our main computer database has been wiped out. Everything is gone—all records, files, and data crucial to running this office. We’ve tried everything we could think of, but nothing has worked. And we have no idea how to recover it."
Ruby blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. Of all the things she had expected, this wasn’t it. She crossed her arms, her expression turning thoughtful.
"And you think I can help?" she asked, her tone laced with skepticism.
"I have hope..." the old witch muttered, her voice barely above a sigh, as if she were clinging to a thread of faith in Ruby’s abilities.
Ruby glanced at her briefly but said nothing. Instead, she moved toward the desk where the computer was stationed. "Alright, let me see your computer. Did you save your data anywhere else? A backup? Or maybe on your Lap- I mean ectoplasmic tablet?" she asked, her tone brisk as she rolled up her sleeves.
The old witch hesitated, her regret evident in the way her grip tightened on her cane. "No," she admitted, shaking her head slowly. "I didn’t save it anywhere. Not on a backup drive, not even on the ectoplasmic tablet." Her voice carried a deep sense of remorse. "I thought the system was secure... I didn’t think this would happen."
Ruby stopped for a moment, turning her sharp gaze to the old witch. Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t offer judgment. "It happens," Ruby said simply, her voice neutral. "Let’s see what I can do."
She turned her attention to the computer, brushing her fingers lightly over the dusty surface. The machine looked old, but functional. She pressed the power button, and the screen flickered to life with a faint hum.
The startup process was painfully slow, the old hardware struggling to load. Ruby watched the screen, her expression calm but her mind already working through possibilities. When the login page finally appeared, a blank gray background stared back at her, devoid of any files or icons.
"Completely wiped," Ruby murmured to herself, narrowing her eyes. She pulled out the chair and sat down, resting her fingers lightly on the keyboard. "No backups, no cloud storage, and no sync... This isn’t going to be easy," she said, half to herself, half to the old witch standing behind her.
The witch wrung her hands nervously, her worry palpable. "Is it... is it possible to recover anything?" she asked, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and hope.
Ruby didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she began typing commands into the terminal, her focus entirely on the screen. "Depends," she said finally, her tone clipped as her fingers danced across the keyboard. "If the data’s only been deleted and not overwritten, there’s a chance. But if the system’s been compromised by tech..." She trailed off, leaving the grim possibility unspoken.
The old witch nodded, clutching her cane tightly. "Just do what you can, Miss Ruby. Please."
Ruby didn’t look up, her eyes fixed on the flickering screen. "I will," she said, her voice low and steady. "But you better hope your system still has some life left in it."
Ruby leaned forward, her fingers flying across the keyboard with practiced ease. The faint clicking sounds echoed in the otherwise silent room as she loaded another command. Her sharp eyes scanned the screen, searching for any remnants of the previous data.
"Alright, let’s see what’s hiding under the surface," Ruby muttered to herself, her voice barely audible. She opened the command prompt and ran a sequence designed to trace deleted or hidden files.
As lines of code scrolled across the screen, Ruby’s focus sharpened. The system was slow—frustratingly slow—but she remained patient. When the initial scan finished, a list of possibilities popped up, though most were marked as "corrupted" or "unreadable."
She clicked on one of the options, trying to access a backup point or any traces of stored data. A pop-up error appeared: "Files Not Found. Recovery May Be Incomplete."
Ruby frowned, her brows knitting together in concentration. "No recovery point?" she said aloud, more to herself than anyone else. "Strange. Did someone intentionally wipe this, or is the system just this poorly maintained?"
Behind her, the old witch shifted uncomfortably. "I—I don’t know," she stammered. "The system was working fine until this morning. Then somthing happened with my computer and everything just... disappeared."
"Alright, let’s hope this isn’t a complete disaster," she muttered to herself.
Turning back to the screen, Ruby loaded another command, this time digging deeper into the hard drive’s root files. She bypassed the standard interface and accessed the hidden partitions. "If there’s even a fragment of data left, I’ll find it," she said, her voice calm.
Minutes passed in silence as Ruby worked, her hands steady, her mind focused. Finally, a flicker of progress appeared on the screen.
—To be continued...🪄