THE STORY · EPISODE 09
The box had a name they had learned before.
Security_Update.zip.
Patchron stopped in front of the entrance terminal.
“It says update.”
“Updates come from the official source.”
At Mana’s answer, he nodded. But worry did not leave his small face. There were still places all over the city struggling because updates had been put off.
The sender claimed to be responsible for the repairs.
“Please open the attached file.”
Open the attachment, it asked.
Below was an explanation that it would help the work move faster. The request wore an expression suggesting it was asking for nothing unusual.
The doctor showed everyone the screen but did not open the attachment.
“Was anyone expecting this package?”
No one raised a hand.
Black powder sprang from around the closed box and struck the shield with a question.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 09-D1Recognizing malwareWhat is malware?Open illustration & choices
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“B. Software and similar code intended to cause harm. Being in ZIP format alone doesn’t make something malware.”
Securidon deflected the powder. Patchron’s ears lifted slightly. Not every tool for updating things had become something to fear.
The sender was unrelated to the repair work currently underway.
They read only the received information available without opening the attachment. The source details did not match their known contact. They did not extract it on their own device to inspect the contents.
“Does that mean every ZIP is dangerous?”
Spamool asked.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Mana put her thoughts in order.
“This time, we weren’t expecting the attachment, we haven’t verified the sender, and it’s not how we normally receive updates. The name alone doesn’t make it legitimate.”
It was much like the first thing Securidon had taught her.
An impressive name did not remove the need to verify what something was.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 09-A1An unexpected ZIP and disabled protectionAn unexpected Security_Update.zip arrives. The sender is unverified and asks you to disable protection before opening it. What should you do?Open illustration & choices
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“If we look inside...A.”
At her command, Securidon’s light moved toward the box, and the shadow bit into it. Sparks scattered from the shield’s handle. The doctor turned Mana’s device face down. The actual attachment was still unopened.
“Opening it on your everyday device is not a substitute for checking that it is safe.”
“If I leave it to specialists, it feels like I can’t do anything.”
Sapo held out a sheet with the arrival time and sender written on it.
“I think knowing this will help the next person.”
The doctor offered another example.
OPTIONAL QUESTION · 09-A2A replacement invoice you did not expectAn attachment claims to be a replacement invoice from a business partner. You have not confirmed that it was expected. What should you do?Open illustration & choices
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“D. Verify that it was sent through contact details we already had. Even a business partner’s name doesn’t change that.”
“Right. For the first question, that makes C the answer.”
Mana nodded and explained the verification sequence to Securidon again.
The doctor checked with the distribution staff through their usual contact. The answer came back: they had not sent an attachment. The legitimate update was on the usual distribution channel.
“Do not open an unexpected attachment.”
Mana read the warning recorded on the screen.
“Don’t open an attachment you weren’t expecting.”
Part of her still wondered whether peeking inside would be faster. Handing it to specialists without knowing everything felt a little like running away.
But the doctor said opening a file and testing its contents was different from accurately describing how it had been received.
“You pass on what you’ve verified. That helps the next person.”
Mana wrote the arrival time, sender, displayed name, and the fact that they had not opened it. Instead of opening the attachment in their normal workspace, they isolated it according to the organization’s support procedure and handed it to the specialists.
She did not need to try everything alone to save the world.
Episode 9, Illustration 1 | Checking an attachment without opening it
That afternoon, a staff member who had received the same attachment came to the doctor’s house.
They were bowing apologetically before they had even entered.
“I thought it was an update. I opened it.”
Patchron stood up. Spamool started to speak, then closed his mouth. Securidon’s wings went perfectly still.
In that silence, Mana remembered her own first day at work.
Sometimes it was not the mistake itself but the fear of what people would say afterward that left someone unable to speak.
“Thank you for coming.”
Mana pulled out a chair.
“Let’s work through when it happened and how far you got, together.”
The doctor prevented further actions on the staff member’s device and contacted the response team. They checked the times the person remembered and the screens they had seen. Where the account grew uncertain, they did not fill in the gaps themselves.
“It’s all right to leave what you don’t remember as unknown. We’ll compare it with the records later.”
For the first time, the staff member drew a fresh breath.
Mana looked at the first check in her notebook. Call for help. It was not something meant only for the first step.
While the specialists investigated, the black shadow kept swelling around the isolated package.
“Turn off protection to install.”
Stop the protection, and it would install properly.
“It pretends to fix things so you’ll move your protection out of the way.”
Patchron’s voice lowered.
His hand tightened around the large bandage. Mana understood his frustration: the name of a tool meant to help was being used to hurt someone.
“Patchron, support the legitimate repair channel. Securidon, stop that lure!”
With the knowledge they had chosen anew, the two companions’ light joined. Rather than open the box to try it, they cut off the routes by which the shadow spread through human actions.
Information reached the specialists, and further handling of the dangerous attachment was stopped. Mana’s group guided anyone else about to open it toward a reliable support contact.
When someone panicked and kept it secret, the shadow gained a way out.
When someone reported quickly, that route narrowed.
The last black fragment clung to the closed attachment icon. When Mana used Securies, darkness peeled from its edges.
A red body covered in little projections appeared, with a laptop in front of its knees. The new companion held the computer closed.
“Malwemo.”
After saying his name, he moved a little away from everyone.
“Is it all right for me to be nearby?”
Mana did not immediately say that everything was fine. His becoming a protecting companion and the checks on every device in the city being complete were separate things.
“We can be together. We’ll keep working with the response staff to find out what happened with that attachment. Let’s not mix the two.”
Malwemo slowly nodded.
COL-005: Malwemo. The ninth entry lit up in the WS Encyclopedia. Sapo kept the investigation notes separate, rather than recording matters still being examined as settled facts.
When Securidon approached, Malwemo stepped back again. Without speaking, the blue dragon set his shield by the wall, in a position that did not point toward him. Then he sat down beside him.
“I apologized at the beginning too, don.”
“Were you forgiven?”
“We walked together, don. We still do.”
Hearing that, Malwemo gently lowered the computer from his knees. Feelings alone did not make it right to wave through something that still needed safety checks. But they could sit at the same height to talk.
Mana drew another chair beside the two of them.
Patchron sat nearby.
“If we can close our tools and talk, that’s a good place to start.”
In the evening, the staff member returned to thank them.
“I nearly delayed reporting it because I thought I’d be scolded.”
Mana nodded repeatedly. She wanted to say she understood, but did not want to stop there.
“When someone comes to you for help next time, will you remember today?”
The staff member looked up.
“Yes.”
For the first time, Mana had offered protective words drawn from her own experience.
Episode 9, Illustration 2 | Companions support someone who reports a mistake
But that night’s message did not announce an ending.
Files in a shared storage vault were being renamed one after another and could no longer be opened.
Whether the same attachment was the cause was still unknown. The investigation continued. But another incident was definitely unfolding now.
An unfamiliar full moon rose beyond the window.
Its light was golden, yet the more it touched the city’s doors, the more they closed.
END OF EPISODE 09