Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “Sylvia, I want an update first thing in the morning,” said Victor.

  “About what?” asked Sylvia.

  “Everything!” said Victor, in a loud voice.

  Victor climbed the staircase and stopped at the 60th floor. He saw through the window – Sierra had gone dark. Not a single source of light, apart from flashlights and cars that could be seen on the roads. The dome was visible, as the receptors had lost their power. Not many had seen the dome before. It was a frightening sight. They were living inside a snow globe without the snow.

  Victor went to the 67th floor of Tech One. It was Sierra’s war room. He walked down the corridor, contemplating his next actions. The corridor was dark, but the windows on the right allowed the moonlight to pass through. The green neon strips on the floor helped showed the way. Being on one of the higher floors in the tallest building had its advantages. He walked towards the door at the end of the hallway. A couple of guards saluted and opened the door for him. Victor walked inside into the abyss.

  The war room had its independent generator. It was created for a similar critical situation. It was primarily unused for the last two years.

  Victor occupied the chair at the end of 50 seater table. He laid back on the chair, looking at the ceiling.

  “It couldn’t be Josh,” uttered Victor. “How did he find us?”

  Two hours later, the entire room was filled with department heads and security personnel. There were a lot of blames going back and forth between the department heads. Each one blamed the other for the mess. Victor listened to hundreds of conversations that were happening simultaneously. His mind was elsewhere, continuously looking at the door. A minute later, the final guest that he was waiting for finally arrived.

  “Marie, so good of you to join us,” said Victor as the entire room hushed into silence on hearing Victor’s voice.

  “Yeah, couldn’t get out of the building,” said Marie. Victor knew Marie couldn’t tell everyone about Cradle, much less Level 4.

  She sat on the only available seat. The one directly opposite to Victor. She was wary of occupying it. It put her on the limelight, a position no one wanted to be in at this stage. The guards that were positioned around the room, weren’t just carrying weapons to show their ferocity. Every single person in the room knew that they might not leave the room alive if Victor blamed them for the recent mess.

  “So, let’s get started,” said Victor. “Tell me the stats.”

  “All Neuroscience buildings and Applied Sciences building are shut down,” said Boris.

  “I thought you were in charge of cryogenics?” said Victor.

  “I am,” said Boris. “But I..”

  “Take him away,” said Victor, looking at the guards.

  A couple of guards approached Boris. They pulled his chair and grabbed his arms. He was dragged off his seat as he yelled to be let go.

  “Get me another guy for cryogenics,” said Victor, to Sylvia, who was the first chair.

  Sylvia went outside to convey the message to a runner who was supposed to go to one of the Cryogenics buildings and search for ‘Dr. Tim Yu’. She came back inside and occupied her seat.

  “Let’s try focusing on your own departments. I hope it’s not too much to ask,” said Victor, firmly.

  Jason started stuttering. “IT..is…”

  “Speak up,” said Victor as his voice echoed.

  “We had 700 mainframe servers running when the attack happened. Before they shut down the power, 592 of them had already been taken over. Our data had been encrypted while a huge chunk of it was being transferred in short bursts,” said Jason, in a single breath. “The entire IT has been breached. They entered our network through our restricted IPv6 subnets. We don’t know how they came to know about those ranges.”

  Jason took a huge breath when he completed that sentence.

  “And?” asked Victor.

  “As soon as we turn on the power, they will assume control of the entire infrastructure that’s connected to the primary network. Which is pretty much every department,” said Jason.

  “We can’t remain dark for long. The sun is almost upon us. Sierra is no longer invisible,” said General Horath, responsible for the security of Sierra.

  “I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say,” said Jason.

  “Then why don’t you stop speaking in riddles?” said Horath.

  “The internet, as we knew it, a decade ago, is now long gone. There are millions and millions of private networks running around. Their scale is unknown, as well as their network topology. Any message from IPs outside your own network or any of your friends’ network, is promptly disregarded. There’s a blockchain that keeps the list of networks and the IP addresses that they occupy. All the networks ensure the consistency of the blockchain. But it is secured and doesn’t tell anything more than which IP ranges are already in use. Sierra operates on 20 different such networks. Together, they form something I refer to as Shield. In case of any external system tries to latch onto any of IPs within the Shield, the Shield identifies the other network while sending a blank response as if they hit an empty device. Each of those networks in the Shield were registered on our DNS servers, which could only be accessed by someone using a specific master IP range. The attack happened because that IP address was made public. It is easy to defend when your enemy doesn’t know where you are. But what I found out was something else. We gave them our location in this network space. We basically told that latch onto that specific IP in the Shield, as it is a gold mine, and will tell you all about our IP networks. They hit us with everything they got,” said Jason. “Once they got inside the primary mainframe, which I still don’t know how, they cracked our DNS servers’ firewall within a second and spread in the entire system. Weapons and Security was one such system.”

  “You’re saying they control our weapons?” asked Horath.

  “I’m saying you don’t want to turn on the power to find out,” said Jason. “I fear that they might send a command to fire a missile and give the coordinates to your ass.”

  Horath was furious. He would’ve lashed out if he was stupid. He knew the gravity of the situation that Jason was trying to explain.

  “How many departments have access to those master IPs?” asked Victor.

  “Um...umm...” said Jason.

  “What?” said Victor.

  “10,” said Jason.

  “You mean to say the infrastructure that you set up could be easily penetrated if an idiot from any of 10 departments accessed a file outside our private network?” asked Victor.

  “10 people,” said Jason. “10 systems to be precise.”

  “And who all occupy those systems, if I may ask?” said Victor.

  “I don’t have a list. It’s on the mainframe,” gulped Jason.

  “So the only way to find out who betrayed us, will ensure the enemy completely takes over,” said Victor.

  “I’m afraid so,” said Jason.

  “It could be a mistake. Maybe, whoever attacked us, found out some other way. Jason is just guessing because it’s easy to round up 10 people and shoot them dead, than to inspect the entire infrastructure and admit you forgot an exposed vulnerability in the system,” said Marie.

  Few department heads nodded when Marie said that. Jason had a reputation for blaming others for his mistakes. It worked against him this time.

  “I agree,” said Victor. “Even if they found out about our network, they still got past our firewalls and security checks.”

  He looked at Jason, who had started sweating. They weren’t wrong.

  “What else?” asked Victor.

  “Medical services are down. All buildings are under a mandatory blackout. Everyone is staying put. We’re waiting for your confirmation on when to turn on the power,” briefed Sylvia. “The department heads are here with us if you want them to corroborate further.”

  “We need to find a way to turn on the dome,” said Horath. “With no security syst
ems in place, we’re sitting ducks.”

  “The message said ‘I’m coming’,” said Clay, the person responsible for ground forces at Sierra. “Who’s coming?”

  “And who’s Jay?” asked Felicia, responsible for utility services. “That message flashed on every screen. Clearly, whoever is behind this, is coming after us because they think we’re Jay.”

  “There are 4 Jays that I know,” said Hillary. “We could start with them.”

  Victor got up from his seat. They all stopped the cross-talks and started looking at him.

  “Jay isn’t important,” said Victor. “What’s important is to protect Sierra. Horath is right. We’re sitting ducks.”

  “So, what do you suggest?” asked Sylvia.

  “How long would it take to overhaul our entire network completely?” asked Victor.

  Everyone looked at Jason. It was a stupid question to ask, and he couldn’t think of a better answer.

  “One year,” said Jason. “That’s assuming we get the supplies tomorrow.”

  They all looked at each other and started whispering.

  “Might I suggest an alternative?” said Marie.

  “What?” asked Sylvia.

  “We should focus on essential systems – weapons and utilities. Reset these two,” said Marie. “IT and the other departments can wait.”

  Victor knew she was referring to Cradle when she mentioned other departments.

  “What about our data?” asked Beth Rice, the official head of the IT department. “They have root access to all our servers, which I assume will allow them to access not only the 4 primary datacenters but also our backup datacenter if they haven’t gotten access already. We can’t work without our data. No department can. We can’t start from level one all over again. We need to find a way to get back online with the current infrastructure. I request temporary activation of one of the servers so that we can find what we’re up against.”

  “I hate to say it, but I agree with Beth,” said Jason. “Sierra cannot be rebuilt in one day. We need to get it back.”

  “Damn, right,” said Clay. “My team is prepared to fight against all attacks.”

  “Where’s Anton?” asked Horath.

  “He went on a different operation,” said Sylvia.

  “Excuse me, sir. I don’t wish to interrupt, but may I ask a question?” asked Alessia Jones, the 20 year old genius that was the brains behind Atlantis’ physical infrastructure. She had a timid personality and often kept to herself even when surrounded by her peers. Her short brunette hair and skinny body shape didn’t help in asserting dominance either. But she had Anthony’s ears before Olivia assumed the role and cast out Alessia. Victor asked Alessia to work on Sierra. Alessia’s insights made Sierra a technological marvel it was today.

  “Yes, Alessia?” said Sylvia.

  “Umm...Why are we not fighting back?” asked Alessia. “We are assuming that we have already lost. We have over 500 people working in IT and Cybersecurity, AI, and Nanotechnology. We have the best brains that money can buy. Maybe we should find a way to hold off the attack instead of resetting the entire thing. While I agree that we got here because we left serious loopholes on our infrastructure, perhaps we can use that to our advantage.”

  Her polite voice didn’t bring out the condescension in her tone. She was pissed at Victor for assuming defeat so soon, as she knew him to be much stronger than that.

  Victor again sat back on the chair and started spinning the paper weight on the table.

  “It’s risky,” said Victor. “We could lose everything.”

  “Everyone here thinks we already have,” said Alessia. “Perhaps we should make this foreign entity work for it instead of rummaging in our closets for the white flag.”

  “Do you have a plan in mind?” asked Victor.

  “I do,” said Alessia. “But before I share that, I want the Red Button.”

  Chapter 33: Defense

  Red Button was a button pinned on the collar of the most powerful person in Sierra. It was to be used in case of emergencies. Whoever had the red button, was assumed to be in charge of Sierra’s operations. They controlled every employee in every department. They could defunct the funding of one department while rallying tenfold resources for the other. Their power would be equivalent to Victor’s.

  Victor looked in the eyes of Alessia. She wasn’t flinching. He could see she was determined to put up a fight. Horath objected, calling Alessia a child. There was a lot of buzz in the room.

  “I think we should put it to a vote,” said Sylvia.

  The room went silent for the vote.

  “All against it, raise your hands,” said Sylvia.

  48 people raised their hands. Everyone except Alessia and Victor.

  “Seems like everyone is against it, but still let’s complete the process,” said Sylvia. “All in favor, raise their hand.”

  Alessia immediately raised her hand. Everyone chuckled. She was behaving like an immature child who was asking for something that wasn’t hers to have. Alessia made a disappointed face when everyone was looking at her, smiling and mocking. But she didn’t put down her hand, rather kept looking at Victor. A few seconds later, a huge smile appeared on her face, which confused everyone.

  They looked around and saw Victor, who had stood up. He was holding the Red Button in his hand, high above his shoulder. Alessia only needed one hand to be raised, not 26.

  He threw it towards Alessia, who caught it.

  “Wait, what?” said Jason.

  “Alessia has control of Sierra,” said Victor.

  “What does this mean?” asked Sylvia.

  “You all report to Alessia,” said Victor. “Alessia, take it away.”

  Alessia nodded.

  She stood up and said, “Jason. Marie. Beth. John. Stay back. Everyone else, please excuse us.”

  They all looked at Victor. It was a collective message to Alessia that they still were answerable to Victor, rather than her.

  “Guards, please escort them outside. They’re wasting my time,” said Alessia.

  The guards stepped forward. There was a sudden commotion in the entire room. They grabbed their files and went out of the room.

  “Sylvia. You too,” said Alessia.

  Sylvia looked at Victor, who nodded. Sylvia always assumed she would be the first person that Victor would think of, in case of a crisis. She was wrong. Sylvia left the room after sharing eye contact with Marie.

  “Whatever we discuss doesn’t leave the room,” said Alessia.

  They all nodded. Victor smiled. He knew Alessia had a dominant side to her personality but had never seen it himself. It was a refreshing sight and a welcome change to the thoughts that were driving him crazy.

  Victor had assumed the only plausible entity behind the hack - Josh or its ménage.

  *************************************************

  The next day, as per Alessia’s plan, they turned on the power around 1 PM. The goal was to isolate the origin of the attack. Jason assumed that the group hacked the primary mainframe first before spreading throughout the network. In the early morning meeting that lasted for about 5 hours, Alessia rejected the idea that the primary mainframe was hacked in a matter of minutes. Beth had also agreed with Alessia’s assessment. Alessia believed that the attackers were attempting to hack the mainframe, which was protected by Sierra’s own AI, for many days before finally breaking through. Jason looked at Victor, who gesticulated at Jason to keep his silence. Jason knew about Josh and its capabilities. Victor allowed Alessia to operate without knowledge of Josh, as she might invariably lead Victor to Josh’s location. Although Sierra’s latest AI, Marsh, was powerful and more sophisticated than Beverly-X, it was still not a match to Josh.

  The buildings had been vacated, and the entire staff had returned to their homes. The electricity and maintenance team were working on separating the power grid manually in cognizance with Applied Sciences and IT so that specific buildings could be brought onl
ine, especially utilities like water. General Horath had expressed concerns that the dome had to be a top priority, followed by weapons and self-defense capabilities of Sierra.

  “Do it,” said Alessia, standing in the middle of the 59th floor, on the radio device to Tilly, the head of the maintenance team at Sierra.

  The primary Electric and Power grid servers were ready to be brought online, and the Power Stations were told to restart production. The entire IT staff in Tech One, Tech Two, and Tech Four had been instructed to download as much data as possible on the local systems, about the hackers’ programs. They only had five minutes.

  899 people were ready. Their eyes were looking at their computer screens.

  Tilly and his maintenance team were ready to manually throw 623 switches that controlled their switch gears, to bring back Sierra online for five minutes. There were only a hundred of them that were inevitably stuck inside Sierra – B when they turned off the power last night. The experience was frightening. Losing the air conditioning was the least of their worries. They had started hearing noises that penetrated the soundproof levels below them. Cries, screams, gunshots, and shrieks. They didn’t know what went down there. They were told that Level 5B was never to lose power. Last night, when they failed to reach the authorities when the communication lines went down, Tilly made the final call when he learnt about the hacks from Level 2 and 4. It took them an hour to install a separate circuit for the air control system with an independent power source. Once they had got that, Tilly himself had thrown the first switch to turn off Sierra’s power, followed by his team that had to run to the next switchgears after resetting the first one, and then the next and the next.

  Now, it was again up to him to restart Sierra. Tilly, a middle-aged Caucasian blue collar worker, standing inside the glass control box on Level One in Sierra – B, screamed to turn on the power in the pitch dark floor. He heard the switchgears and the independent circuit breakers being turned on, the switches being thrown, and the noise of his workers running in the corridor. Level One got its electricity a few seconds later. But that didn’t slow down the assembly of workers running in synchronized motion throughout the hexagonal corridor.