In a clean and sleek all white interrogating room in the Echelon headquarters in Seoul, a 17 year old boy with shabby clothes, sat shivering on a chair facing Mr. Kang.

“It’s ok boy, I’m not going to hurt you, you can call me Mr. Kang.”

“I don’t want to go to jail!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t have to. You just need to answer a few questions. Ok?”

Desperately needed to get out of the room, the boy nodded in agreement.

“Now, let’s start with something simple. What’s your name?”

“Choi Minho.”

“Where do you live?”

“Under a bridge.”

_______

As the rain poured down heavily, a 12 year old boy sat shivering on a sidewalk opposite a cyber cafe. Hungry and cold, the hot porridge a middle-aged man was eating across the street looked more tempting than ever. Under the pouring rain, the boy ran across the street and sat beside the man. The boy looked at the porridge in the polystyrene bowl being scooped up by a plastic spoon, and then the plastic spoon being put into the man’s mouth. After a few spoons, the man offered the bowl of porridge to the boy, of which the boy received gladly.

“What’s your name boy?”

Not hearing the man’s question, the boy continued eating. The man tapped his shoulders, and repeated the question, this time, in a more serious manner.

“What’s your name?”

Shocked, the boy dropped the bowl of porridge that he was keen on finishing, and stuttered, “Choi Minho.”

“Look what you have done! A good bowl of porridge down the drain. And I thought of enjoying it by myself tonight.”

“I’m so-so-sorry.”

The man chuckled, and asked Minho, “Where are your parents?”

“I don’t know. I have been living on the streets since last year, when my uncle moved out from his house together with his family without me. I have never met my parents.”

“It’s tough surviving by yourself out here. Didn’t the authorities catch you?”

“I ran. I ran every time. I don’t want to live in a children’s home. I don’t want to be adopted.”

“Looks like you stumbled across the right person. Care to join me under the bridge? That’s my shelter. I prefer to call it home though.”

_______

“Then, Choi Minho, have you ever been to school?”

“No. My uncle never cared. The guy under the bridge, uncle Noh, taught me everything.”

“Including your tech skills?”

_______

A month after Minho lived with the man under the bridge, he asked Minho, “Would you like to learn how to use the computer?”

“A computer? I’ve never even touched one! My uncle had one, but it’s only for my cousins. Can you really teach me?”

“Of course. Let’s go to the cyber cafe over there.” The man took out a tin from under his makeshift plank bed, and took out some notes. “Don’t tell anyone that I keep my money here.”

After paying the fees, they chose a computer at a secluded corner, and Mr. Noh explained the basics of an operating system to Minho. It became a routine, whenever they had extra money from the odd jobs they did during the day, they spent it all on food and the cyber cafe. It went on for years. They ran whenever authorities came to catch them, but they always went back to sleeping under the bridge.

As the years progressed, the man stopped teaching Minho directly. He wanted Minho to learn by himself. Minho learned most of his skills from the Internet including hacking. He hacked into various sites, most of the time getting out as quiet as the moment he hacked into them without changing the site or leaving anything malicious behind.

One night, Minho playfully hacked into the Echelon database. An hour later, just as he was getting out of the cyber cafe, a few Echelon operatives caught him and dragged him into a black car. He ended up in an all white room, with a man named Mr. Kang interrogating him.

_______

“Did you know that you were hacking into the Echelon’s system?”

“I---I know. BUT I didn’t do anything to the data!! I just looked through the profiles. I never hacked into the confidential part of the system! Please believe me!!”

Mr. Kang smiled, “You are going to be a valuable asset to the Echelon. You are a prodigy! How would you like it if I let you stay in our dorms and train under the Echelon? I promise you that you can get access to our computers 24 hours a day, plus, you’ll have a steady job as an Echelon after you get out. When you become an Echelon trainee, it is legal to view the Echelon database, thus, we can forget the fact that you hacked into the system, because, by then you will be authorised to view the database. You won’t be charged for cyber crime, no jail, it’s a win-win situation. What do you say?”

“Really? But I can’t just leave uncle Noh! He would worry!”

“Don’t worry, I am sure he that will understand.  We can always drop by and check on him from time to time.”

“One more thing.”

“Hmm? What do you need”

“Will there be three meals a day?”

“Of course my son. Not only three, you are going to have 6 piping hot meals a day. You’ll need all the energy that you can get when you start training. We don’t starve our trainees.”

The next day, Mr. Kang drove Minho to his previous shelter, under the bridge, to look for Mr. Noh. When they arrived, nothing was there. Everything had been wiped clean. There were no traces of the things that Mr. Noh and Minho used to keep there.

“Uncle Noh? Uncle Noh!! Where are you?”

Mr. Kang drove Minho around town to look for Mr. Noh. The search ended with disappointment though, as Mr. Noh was nowhere to be found.

“Like I told you before Minho, he will understand why you are gone, he will. Now let’s get you back to the dorm.”

_________

the trailer is now out! Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHe3frEzgNU