by Utley, Todd
“Man, you know how diabolical that is?”
“Yeah I know, literally millions upon millions of those implants are out there in the brains of every human being on earth including you and I and it’s supposed to be a one way transmitter only.”
“Wait, whoa, are you telling me that this back door could allow the thing to be a receiver as well as a transmitter?”
“I’m not really sure yet but . . .” Just then the waitress returned.
“Okay whatcha havin guys?”
They hadn’t even looked at the menu because they were so engrossed in their conversation. John looked at Dodge and back at her.
“Um, well what’s good?”
“The country omelet is very popular, it comes with . . .”
“Yes,” John interrupted, “Just bring us two of those, thanks.”
“You bet guys, have it right out.”
As she walked away Dodge looked at John.
“How did life suddenly get so complicated? We’re so screwed!”
They both took a drink of coffee and thought for a moment.
“Hold on a second,” said John, “I just realized something. The damn thing would never work anyway because the implant is designed to transmit only, it can’t receive unless it’s brand new and in a new clone. You need the complex equipment that only the Life Centers have. They have to use the needle probe to go in and direct load the data. It wouldn’t matter on the software side what you did, if the implant doesn’t have the hardware to receive a wireless signal it’s not gonna work, right?”
John took another drink of coffee and swished it around before swallowing it.
“Yeah that’s right. Unless?”
“Oh great. Unless what?”
“When your team was designing the implant I remember one particular meeting during which the real estate on the chip was discussed. You made the comment that there was more than enough room on the die to add additional circuitry if needed for creating a rolling code section.”
“Yeah, so?”
“The thing is we never did that because the test data came back showing that stealing the data or attempting to add data was pointless due to it being un-useable by anyone but the actual persons brain that it belonged to. Security was no longer an issue and that extra space was never used.”
“Yeah, I do remember that. When I get into work today I’ll look back at the chip die again and go through the layouts to see if anything was added in that space. I really don’t think so because I approved the final design myself and I think I would have noticed a big change like that.”
Their food arrived. They ate quietly while they thought for a few minutes.
“John, I have to fix this thing, it happened on my watch, but I can’t do it without you.”
“Don’t worry we’ll get to the bottom of this and you know I’ve got your back, we’ve been friends for a long time. Even though we haven’t been able to hangout I still consider you my best friend. We both knew when I left ESS and went to RockTight Systems that we would have to keep our distance due to the sensitive nature of our jobs, but you know what, screw that! I won’t let you down on this and no one else needs to know we’re talking.” Just then Dodge remembered.
“Hey I’m sorry I didn’t ask before and I know this isn’t the best time but, how’s Karen? How’s everything? You guys doing okay?”
“It’s bad to let lawyers and big corporations ruin a perfectly good friendship.” John looked out the window for a minute to tone down his feelings.
“Three questions again, I’m not a machine!” John said jokingly. He paused for a moment before answering.
“Well, Karen left me, she ran off with some pro baseball player, can you believe that shit!”
“Damn John, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well don’t be, we were both unhappy for a long time and I’m pretty sure she was cheating on me for quite a while. At least we didn’t have children so I guess we’re only hurting each other. You know what, I’ll tell you more some other time, we have bigger fish to fry right now and besides I met someone over a year ago. She’s awesome and we’re doing great, when you meet her you’ll know I did a lot better. So any ideas on where to begin with this programming issue?”
Dodge was surprised at how well John was dealing with his personal problems and was relieved to see it. He was right, they could talk about it later, right now they had a mystery to solve.
“I have plenty of unused vacation time and I don’t have a wife at home to ask lots of prying questions. Why don’t you go to work the rest of the week and I’ll call in sick so I can continue to work on this thing. I’ll let you know what I find out. I won’t call you unless I discover something important, that way Linsey won’t ask too many questions.”
“Oh, don’t worry too much about that. I created a pretty good cover story about how we ran into each other and how you and I are going to do some catching up. She even said we could have you guys . . .” Dodge stopped short because Karen was no longer in the picture.
“It’s okay man, just tell her we split, I don’t care. You can still have us over, it’ll just be a new us, or at least a new better half of us.”
They both laughed.
“Okay, we’ll definitely get together for some dinner after all this is over with. I’m going to finish up this unbelievably good omelet that what’s her name with the simple life recommended and then go on in to work. I’ll poke around a little bit to see if I can find any old notes and refresh my memory on everyone that worked on the project.”
“Be careful my friend. Whoever is behind this may be very protective of what they’re up to.”
“Don’t worry I’ll be careful.”
They continued to talk as they finished their breakfast. They discussed whether or not the thing would even work and why it had been ten years since and nothing had happened. They contemplated that the hacker may have been fired or transferred before he could complete the job and they were really hoping for that to be the case.
Chapter 7 Dodge arrived at work behind his usual schedule but it didn’t really matter, he was senior management now and enjoyed flex time benefits. He saw Tim in the hall talking to one of the other department heads shaking his head back and forth while looking into a manila folder with a red tab. Red tabs were financial. “Oops! Someone must have overspent for the quarter!”
He could tell by Tim’s demeanor that he would be there for a while and would probably end up in the poor guy’s office chewing on him for at least an hour. Tim was a great Boss and Dodge considered him a friend but some of these clowns hated him. If you did your job he would treat you with mutual respect and if you did it long enough and well enough he might even become your friend.
On the other hand you certainly didn’t want to cross the guy and start screwing up because you’d find yourself taking the walk of shame toting a cardboard box stuffed with all your crap.
Tim looked up and saw Dodge just as he went behind the poor sap taking the beating. The poor fella was facing Tim and Dodge just couldn’t resist using his own neck tie as a noose to pretend he was being hanged while dangling his tongue out at Tim as he passed behind the guy. Tim just about lost it when he saw what Dodge was doing but quickly gathered his stern look back and ignored his antics.
“Who says you can’t have fun at work.” He stopped by the break room for another cup of coffee. “Ah ha! Cup cakes, must be someone’s birthday.” Steph never missed a birthday and she always made sure the cup cakes were ordered and brought in first thing that morning so they would be fresh. She also sent email memos to everyone so they knew whose birthday it was.
When Dodge arrived at his office the door was open and there was a man in at his computer that he had never seen before.
“Excuse me, what is going on?” He asked.
“Oh good morning Sir, I’m Brian Nelson from IT. I’m just installing the latest software patch to our security system on your work station. Be out of your way in
just a minute.”
Dodge was a little rattled at this unexpected intrusion into his privacy. IT installed patches once or twice a month but never in his absence, and Brian was new.
“Who let you in Brian?” Just curious.
“Oh, sorry, you weren't here yet when I came by and we’re on a very tight schedule so I went down to see your secretary, Stephanie right?”
“Yes, my assistant, Steph.”
“Oh, right, anyway she let me in. I hope you don’t mind, I never look at anything else, I’m just installing this patch, and I’ll be gone, a.s.a.p.”
“Oh, no, that’s fine, just wondered, go ahead. We all have our jobs to do and in your defense I did come in late today.” Normally Dodge would not have thought anything of it but he was a little paranoid now and would probably stay that way until he and John solved this mystery. Just then Steph stuck her head in.
“Good morning Mr. Kerrington, how are you today?”
“Fine thanks Steph, and you?”
“Good as always. Hey, hope you don’t mind I let Brian in but don’t worry he’s a really good egg.” Brian cracked a smile while he continued to work. “And by the way, don’t forget its Patti’s birthday today so be sure and say hey to her okay? She’s Mr. Patterson’s assistant down the hall on the left.”
“I will, thanks for reminding me.”
“You got it boss!”
Stephanie zipped on down the hall saying hello and reminding others of Patti’s birthday. She was one of those people that was rarely, if ever, sick and she was always very upbeat with a big smile. He wished more people around there were like her; most of them seemed really bored with their jobs.
“All done Sir, I shouldn’t need to return for 30 days. Have a good one.”
“Thanks, I’ll try, you too.”
“Hmm, Brian is pretty darned cheerful. Maybe Steph and Brian should date!”
As soon as Brian cleared out Dodge jumped right on his PC and looked at all activity for the last 24 hours. He didn’t see anything other than his own work and what Brian just did. He looked a little deeper into the activity report details to make sure everything looked like normal security patch installs. IT guy Brian appeared to be clean, so one suspect down about fifteen hundred to go!
First he really needed to do his regular work and then he could move onto his investigating of the hacked code. He worked just as fast as possible to get his messages answered then he called Steph in and loaded her up with a few things to do which would clear his plate a little faster.
By 2:00 p.m. he was free enough to get into his archives and do some digging. He had more work but it was not that pressing and he knew he could put it off until tomorrow. He planned to take a look at the final electronics design file on the server for the implant chip. He wanted to see if there had been any circuitry added to his design without his knowledge.
Considering the situation he was a little concerned about pulling it up on his monitor. If a hacker was still accessing the system they could be monitoring who viewed those files and when. He thought about it for a moment, “John would know what to do.”
He called John on his sky to avoid using his desk phone. Talking to John could throw up a flag somewhere if things were being monitored closely. He felt he was being a little paranoid, but at this point erring on the side of caution was certainly prudent. John answered on the first ring.
“Dodge, I was just about to call you. I made some progress, everything okay on your end?”
“Well no one is treating me any differently, and it’s been ten years, so I guess so.”
“Okay, good. Well here is what I know for sure. As I originally thought, it’s definitely a back door and it’s in the transmitter section of the Lifecorder uplink software. The thing is I’m still baffled because it seems useless. But regardless I’m pretty sure that its purpose is to create a bidirectional communications link.
No one has ever been able to upload anything into the brain of a person other than their own IHE file so the whole thing seems pointless to me. Even if you wanted to do that, it has to be done with the head gear at one of the Restoration centers or hospitals. You need the robotic bi-polar needle and that section of the chip operates on different protocols than this code anyway.”
“Okay, so please, in laymen’s terms what good is it?”
“I don’t know that yet and neither of us will be able to figure that out without having the hardware and at least a schematic for the section that this code was written to control. I have my piece of the puzzle solved as far as it can be without having the hardware. It’s up to you buddy. Ya gotta find something there on your end before we can go any further.”
“All right but unfortunately I need your help again. I can access the final designs on the server but if I do, my work station would be flagged for it. Well, assuming someone is monitoring me here at ESS. I could go to another person’s workstation but then that may put them in harm’s way and potentially tip off our hacker. I don’t want to spook them, any ideas?”
“I have just the thing you need. It’s a neat little program and it’s compact enough to send over to your skyphone as a compressed file. It works on the principle of date time discovery or keyword. It’s basically a worm but don’t worry, I designed it so tight that the security won’t catch it.
All you need to know is part of the file name or the date it was created or last viewed. Once it’s installed you load the keyword and it goes looking. It finds a list of files on the server that contain your keyword so there may be some junk to sift through but it will find the file without flagging that it has been accessed. It is completely untraceable.
You pick the actual file from the list and then note the date and time that it was last accessed and by whom. You can open the file and look at the content, and when you’re done, simply click the “close it softly” option in the menu. The program will give you the option of manually entering file last viewed by and viewed date and time information or, clone. You want to pick the clone option. When you close the file it will redisplay the date and time and person that accessed it prior to you and leave no trace of your inquiry.
If anyone is checking on it periodically, it will show that it has not been accessed. Very important detail my friend and don’t forget this because this is absolutely crucial. Do not copy the file! You can copy the entire contents of the file and then paste it to another window on your PC, or even your phone, but do not copy the actual file. This is very important.”
“Okay I get it. So send it over to me and I’ll get it going. Oh wait, how do I get it into the system?”
“Do you have a good reason to email anyone inside the same router leg that you’re on?”
“Uh, well, no. Oh wait, I could email a happy birthday wish to Patti down the hall it’s her birthday today.”
“Perfect! Get me her email address. I’ll send you an email on your phone that says happy birthday in colorful text. I’ll embed the worm in that. Once it’s in the system for ten minutes it dissolves completely and is undetectable. Of course you only have the ten minutes so you’ll have to get your snooping done as quickly as possible once she receives it.”
“Okay, understood . Her email is Patti dot L at ESS Inc dot tech”.
“All right you’ll have the goods in about ten minutes. I’ll send it to your phone and then you can forward it to your own email there at work. Open it and copy the contents of the window to a new email and then enter her email address followed by any additional comments to personalize it. Once you get a confirmation that she has received the email simply click your print icon as if though you wanted to print the confirmation out. When the printer selection box appears click the drop down and scroll all the way to the bottom and select the printer option “print to file”. It will have an asterisk after it and this is what launches the program. Click it and your computer will reboot on its own. When it comes back up, you won’t recognize the operating system because it won’t be normal. It will just
be orange text on a black background with very simple commands similar to the old DOS systems. You’ll see the place to put in your keyword and that will get the thing started. You have to stay right on it because ten minutes go by fast.”
“Why is it limited to ten minutes?”
“Any longer than that and the security could potentially catch it. If you don’t get done in time your computer will automatically shut off and then we’ll have to start over. Let me know what you find.”
“Wait, John, how do I save something if I find it?”
“The on screen prompts will offer you options of places to send it off to or save it. I would recommend a new unused microdrive.”
“Okay, will do, I’ll be watching for the file.”
“Oh, by the way, Dodge, there will be no mouse or voice command functionality, its old school bro!”
“Okay, I’ll do my best.” “Great old school DOS style!”
Not five minutes later Dodge received the file, and he quickly forwarded it from his phone to his email. When he opened it, he was greeted with a corny, happy birthday jingle and a little banner that scrolled across the page followed by some cakes with little dancing legs. He chuckled to himself. Only John Calhoun could make something that looked so corny and cute into a diabolical hack with great purpose. That guy was a little bit scary.
He added a quick “Happy B-day Patti! From: Dodge Kerrington,” to the subject line and hit send. Much to his surprise he got an auto response back immediately which read
“Hey Everyone, it’s my birthday! I’m celebrating and leaving work early today. I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks! Patti.”
“Great, an auto response, I hope the code still functions.” He went to the print command, and sure enough, the drop down printer box included “print to file*”. He clicked it and his computer shut down just like John said it would. It shut off so fast that it startled him and he thought maybe the program didn’t work right. He made a quick note of the time it was 3:15 and he had until 3:25 to complete his task.
