by Eden Sharp
‘One of the questions is really bothering you and I think you know which one it is,’ he said.
‘Not a clue,’ I said.
He came over and pointed to two spikes on both tests he had taken.
‘You're having trouble with the committing a crime question. Something is bothering you about it. You need to tell me what's on your mind.’
‘Nothing is bothering me aside from not being able to move in this chair,’ I said.
‘Well, something is obviously bothering you about your response to this question, and you need to tell me what it is, because at this point, you've failed the polygraph.’
I tried to figure out how indignant I should be. Before I could say anything else he carried on.
‘We can't go any further. If you want me to go to bat for you with my superiors, we need to work through this. You need to let me have it all. I have to be able to explain this to the folks in the security office. I'm on your team here, and you've got to help me help you. We can then get past this and move forward.’
That’s when I realized it was a play. He was “we-teaming” me. Us against them. Bring it, I thought.
‘I really don’t know what you mean,’ I said, putting a little panic into my voice for effect.
‘Calm down for a moment and we’ll try it again.’
He went back over to the machine and gave me thirty seconds to regain my composure.
‘Have you ever committed a serious crime?’ he repeated.
‘No,’ I said.
This is when the real interrogation began. For the next hour and a half, I was kept in the chair and asked if I was blocking it out because I was ashamed, or maybe I had found religion, become saved, and felt like the crime I had committed was in my past.
‘We know everyone has committed some kind of crime. We know that. Maybe as a teen you stole some cosmetics from a store and you realize how you could have seriously messed up your future. We just need to know that you can be honest and completely forthright with us about it.’
I was seriously pissed.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘I stole a yellow pencil when I was nine from my school science fair because it had a picture of an astronaut on it, I’ve never read the Bible, I’ve illegally shared music files and I wanted my foster mother to die when she stopped me from attending karate class for a few weeks when I was in the eighth grade.’
He didn’t quit and kept pressing me with relentless questioning. When I wasn’t forthcoming with anything he wanted to hear he began yelling. Eventually he left the room. I wondered how someone who was innocent would react under such pressure. I’d committed much more sophisticated crimes than stealing cosmetics as a teen. Should I be exploding, or breaking down, or crying even?
When he came back in he asked me once more. I lied through my teeth again.
His whole demeanor had changed.
‘Angela, I appreciate your honesty,’ he said. ‘I know this is hard but let's keep going.’
He asked me a whole set of questions twice more, back to being a nice guy.
I ran through the same answers while he clicked away typing on his computer.
Then I heard him get up and come over. He started to unhook me.
‘Great, we're done with all of this,’ he said.
He shook my hand, escorted me back to the waiting area, and told me that shortly there would be someone to collect me for a final interview.
A man appeared around forty boring minutes later, in a navy suit that seemed more expensive than ones I’d seen anyone else wearing and ushered me into yet another shabby room.
‘A background security check has already been filed and it has been determined that the granting or continuing of eligibility for a security clearance is clearly consistent with the interests of national security based on an overall common sense determination and careful consideration of the tests you have completed today, each of which has been evaluated in the context of the whole person. In making these eligibility determinations, the NSA complies with the personnel security investigative standards and procedures as outlined in various Intelligence Community directives and policy guidance memoranda. The NSA reserves the right to deny you travel outside of the US and limit your association with foreign nationals. Are there any questions or comments you’d like to make at this time?’
Though I held thoughts about what a crock it all was I decided I had nothing more to add. I looked at my watch. I had been in there for five hours and twenty-six minutes.
11
Friday May 5th
I arranged to meet Charlie at the same hotel a little while after midnight as soon as I cleared the airport. The paranoia was already kicking in. I decided to check my jacket leaving my old and new cells inside to separate me from them in case anyone could listen in. Before I could do so it buzzed. I pulled my old phone out and scanned the display. Knox. I pressed decline, replaced it back into my pocket and left it in the hotel’s care.
I made a note to only use phones with removable batteries going forward but then figured powering down in such a way would only draw attention. I was going to have to seriously think about formulating further robust precautions to cover my own illegal activities from now on.
The room Charlie had taken looked the same when it came to furnishings except it had a different layout. It was like everything I’d experienced previously had been switched around to form an opposing mirror image. The through-the-looking-glass effect was how my life now felt.
‘I’ve been used. My client’s the NSA,’ I said. No point sugar-coating it.
There was a seemingly endless poignant pause that felt like all of space and time had been condensed down in to a singularity. I couldn’t get a handle on what was going to happen next.
‘How’s that?’ Charlie asked finally.
I breathed out. A long steady flow of carbon dioxide. I realized I’d been holding my breath.
‘After I left Japan, before I came back home, I spent a few months volunteering at an orphanage in Thailand. I met an American woman there. We got along. She confided in me she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, stage three, aggressive and non-curable. It didn’t take long for it to turn bad. She was in a lot of pain and collapsed. I called her husband and helped her get home. She died shortly afterward. He felt he owed me somehow and offered to get me a job working for the government which I didn’t want. Kind of ironic. We stayed in touch. He was high up in the military. Now he’s a chief at the NSA. Tailored Access Operations-’
‘The cyber-warfare intel-gathering unit,’ Charlie said.
‘They found out about you and I guess he realized they had an in. So, I’m meant to broker the deal which is you go to prison for the rest of your life or you work covertly for them.’
Charlie’s default serious face displayed a whole new level of solemnity. ‘Do they know about you?’ he said.
‘I don’t think so,’ I said. I truly hoped not.
Charlie’s eyes trapped me in the same beam of intensity they’d always had but there was a hint of sadness there too.
‘Tell me about the tech,’ I said.
He looked away, maybe considering whether I was still someone he could count on or if I should now be switched to enemy status and cut away like a tumor. He met my gaze again to deliver his verdict.
‘Soldiers are going to have their minds plugged directly into weapons systems. The military are embracing the latest developments in neuroscience to boost the performance of their troops. The software we’re creating controls devices called brain-machine interfaces, or BMIs, to connect people's brains directly to military technology, including drones and other weapons systems. It all comes out of the same research that has enabled people to control cursors and artificial limbs through BMIs that read their brain signals.’
I shook my head. ‘It’s not like anything could go horribly wrong with that.’
‘The pilot wears special headgear. Since the brain can process images, such as targets, muc
h faster than a person is consciously aware of, a neurally-interfaced weapons system provides advantages in speed and accuracy. I’ve seen documentation that predicts humans will become hybrids by the 2030s. That our brains will be able to connect directly to the cloud. They’re conducting research right now into connecting the brain to machine interfaces via nanobots made from DNA strands.’
‘It’s a brave new world.’
‘You’ve only got to think of VR headsets that let gamers play by mind power alone. It’s not really a surprise that the R and D comes from the military.’
I nodded. It all made sense. Anything available commercially was at least a decade behind what the government had, maybe more.
‘The thing is, I don’t think they told you why they really want me,’ he said. ‘There are systems, government systems they presumed were impenetrable that they know I’ve accessed, the reason why I know a lot of this stuff but there’s also a lot more. Things they desperately need to bury. I’ve also made a promise that i9 will provide open source infrastructure along with free encryption software to the public, so the government can no longer spy on them. It’ll be unbreakable. That’s the reason for all this, the real endgame for them.’
I opened up the mini-bar, grabbed a handful of bourbon miniatures and two glasses and poured both of us a drink. I drank most of mine and handed the other to Charlie. I didn’t want to think about what would happen after all this was over, it was too painful.
‘The way they want to play it is this. You have to submit to interrogation by the FBI, but you stay at Hudson Binomics until the software ships on the 29th,
after which they have you arrested. The Feds proceed with the criminal case until you’re locked up. Then you go into some kind of protection program and go work for the NSA, except only the big boys are aware of the deal. The regular Feds don’t know about it.’
‘So, two choices. Work for the government or they throw away the key.’
I shook my head. It didn’t have to be like this.
‘You have three choices. The middle way is to walk,’ I said. ‘You still can. You’ve been outed. Guzek has no hold over you anymore.’
‘You wouldn’t stand in my way?’
‘You know me better than that.’
‘How’s it going to come out for you?’
‘They can’t hold me responsible.’
I heard a little nervous laugh inside my own head.
‘Now they’re watching, I may not have any access to clean machines and you’re going to have to nuke yours.’
I nodded. ‘I’ll help you in any way I can.’
For the first time, I saw a hint of a smile.
‘Where will you go?’ I asked.
‘Brazil initially, as a Canadian, then I’ll get what I need from there to start over in New Zealand. It would be great if you could contact Karim to arrange a passport and fake bread crumbs.’
‘You don’t have a bug out in place all ready?’
‘Not everything. I wanted to remain fluid. Guess I started to believe my own hype.’
For all his talents he’d never had an ego.
‘I won’t have long to organize things,’ I said.
He placed his hand on my shoulder.
‘I appreciate it and I know you must be conflicted.’
He removed it and it was like he’d injected me with energy. His voice was much lower now and I homed in on every word actively listening to each syllable.
‘In your business, aren’t you meant to show some kind of loyalty to your client?’
‘Not when you’re hired under false pretenses.’
‘I could use your help. I’ll talk you through my plans then catch you up on everything that’s been happening, then you’ll be able to contact the others. i9 is going into battle.’
To hell with playing by the rules. I held up my glass.
‘Then I just got myself a new client.’
12
I took precautions and was pretty sure I’d made it back to my apartment building without being tailed. Once inside, I got down to business. Once I was done I would nuke my machines. I’d probably also have to get rid of a few. How many computers did an investigator need in her closet before it read like a server farm?
Karim Soulliere aka Crimetech, was a man with specialized hacking abilities and access to someone who could produce authentic but fake physical goods. Charlie wanted a Canadian passport and I was going to book him travel from Mexico to the Caribbean, namely Trinidad. From there he would take a short boat trip to Venezuela and travel on to Brazil to meet up with others who would arrange safe accommodation and the foundations for him to start a new life in New Zealand.
Getting a fake passport was relatively simple. How you covered yourself, so you didn’t get flagged as traveling on one was going to take a lot more time and effort.
We’d agreed on booking everything as tickets on departure rather than having to go pick them up from a drop point. Now I needed to get the word out to everyone.
Karim knew me as Ghosthex. We’d spoken many times and we shared a love for some of the same music and had recommended artists and tracks to each other though he didn’t know my actual identity in real life. For something as big as this though, he’d still need proof I was someone he could trust rather than a Fed using the handle.
After running through my usual list of security protocols, I logged in to an IRC client to connect to a chat room and a channel Charlie had set up in the past and one he was confident the FBI wouldn’t have compromised. In the single text area in the window that opened I began to type, inviting in i9’s closest and most trusted supporters.
It was important that news of Charlie’s arrest was kept under wraps, but they needed warning, so they could cover their asses. I was also going to need their help.
[Friday 5th May 01:14] Gh057H3x: Feds got AV. Keep this strictly DL.
[Friday 5th May 01:14] wildwild: seriously?
[Friday 5th May 01:14] Gh057H3x: yeah
[Friday 5th May 01:15] Cr1m373ch: ID?
I’d known the question was coming and was ready. I switched over to a secret channel for core group members only. An additional layer of security.
Charlie had told me what to say to reassure Karim it was me. That is, my username.
[Friday 5th May 01:17] Gh057H3x: AV says optdo9rebzbot
[Friday 5th May 01:17] Cr1m373ch: WTF
[Friday 5th May 01:17] Gh057H3x: 1 r3d
[Friday 5th May 01:18] Cr1m373ch: will call back
[Friday 5th May 01:18] Gh057H3x: OK
The ID authentication I’d given and the code for what I needed had him on the case and the ball rolling. Whether Charlie chose a new name or Karim or his guy did, the problem was it still had to be discussed and relayed for me to buy the tickets. As Charlie had already set up a prearranged protocol for such an occasion as this arising, it had been decided the name would never be mentioned by any of us online. I would need to meet with Karim in person to collect the passport when it was ready. I would find out then.
I switched back to the previous channel. Another core member, Codeleone, was signed in.
[Friday 5th May 01:19] C0d3130n3: shit
[Friday 5th May 01:19] Gh057H3x: please CYA
[Friday 5th May 01:19] C0d3130n3: Gh057H3x <3
[Friday 5th May 01:19] wildwild: can I help?
[Friday 5th May 01:20] Gh057H3x: wildwild? Golden
[Friday 5th May 01:20] wildwild: OK
Most everyone on earth now has a digital trace from being plugged in to the grid of modern life. The most common way for agencies to pick up someone attempting to travel on false documents was to employ systems which routinely run searches on everyone’s name who is set to travel. This takes seconds and flags up anyone who doesn’t have an online presence within the perimeters of an appropriate period of time. Digital darkness was a surefire red flag.
Creating a watertight digital history was going to take a lot longer to pull off than the paperwo
rk and Karim would sort this out too. In addition, when he had Charlie’s new name and a checking account card, Karim would make it look like Charlie had made small charges in various cities and also that he’d been looking for apartments and he’d had credit checks run against his new identity. This would give him an extra layer of protection should it be discovered. In reality, he would be in a different hemisphere using pre-paid cloned cards and cash only. His real assets would be kept in cryptocurrency only, so he could make digital transfers to fake accounts to withdraw bills.
Being online made me more nervous than I had ever been before. I knew I had to wipe and ditch my illicit machines but decided to hold off a while longer. I’d already set up a system to nuke everything if I needed to.
Others started to tap into the news.
[Friday 5th May 01:20] token: you guys seen this?
[Friday 5th May 01:21] slipknot: that’s fubar man.
[Friday 5th May 01:21] pippylong: just seen this no!
I waited for twenty anxious minutes until Karim came back into the covert ops channel.
[Friday 5th May 01:42] Cr1m373ch: 2 days max for docs
[Friday 5th May 01:42] Gh057H3x: OK
[Friday 5th May 01:43] Cr1m373ch: will put together place, need list of reqs
[Friday 5th May 01:43] Gh057H3x: will send to dropsite :)
I logged out and checked back into the regular channel
[Friday 5th May 01:44] Gh057H3x: am going offline be back tomorrow
[Friday 5th May 01:45] Gh057H3x: and wildwild?
[Friday 5th May 01:45] Gh057H3x: please work on target
[Friday 5th May 01:45] wildwild: Of course!
