Norbert had not gone into much detail about the protocols, and Mason hadn’t pressed him. He didn’t want to raise the young man’s suspicions. Everyone develops patterns, though, and this is especially true of programmers. It took some time, but Mason finally isolated the security protocols, and removed the limits that Norbert had imposed on IP ranges. The next challenge had come when Mason tried to recompile the code into an executable program. He had no idea how to do this, but knew it was the last step required before Pascua could actually be used. He enlisted the help of a junior programmer, who was only too happy to make points with the boss. He was told by Mason that there would be openings at a higher level soon, and people with talent who could keep their mouths shut would be in demand. The final hurdle was easily cleared. He placed a call to Norbert.
“Computer center,” answered Norbert.
“It’s Mason.”
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“Any progress tracking down the intruder?”
“Not yet.” Norbert was slightly irritated. He had been keeping Mason posted every time there was a new development.
“How about my portal?”
“Yes, that’s ready. All you need is the IP address of the target, which I’m working on. Anything else?”
“Not really, although I would like to have a brief meeting with you to go over a couple things. Come up to my office in fifteen minutes, but knock before you come in. I may be with someone.”
“Sir, is this a good time? I really need to focus on what I’m doing.”
“Won’t take long, and it is important. Fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” As the line went dead, Norbert shook his head. Mason was starting to annoy him.
***
When the knock at the door came, Mason was ready. He had been sitting with his finger poised over the Enter key, and now he pressed it. This input the last of the parameters required by Pascua, and sent it on its way. The portal to the data stream was already open, thanks to Norbert, and within seconds the program was replicating and distributing itself to the Internet address range specified by Mason.
He looked up from his console and called out. “Come in Norbert.”
The door opened and Norbert stuck his head in, quickly looking around the office. “I thought maybe someone else was in here.”
“No, son, it’s just you and me.” He gestured towards his couch. “Have a seat. And close the door behind you.”
Norbert thought that Mason was acting rather strangely, but did as he asked. “I really should get back to the lab.”
“Norbert, I’d like to hear your thoughts on some things.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We don’t really get much opportunity to talk about things beyond the world of computers.”
“That keeps me pretty well occupied,” said Norbert.
“Yes. But aren’t there other things that interest you? Hobbies, or interests?”
“Of course I have other interests, but the agency is my life.” Norbert thought he was being taken to task for the recent near-fatal security breach.
“Did you ever wonder what life would be like without computers?” asked Mason, smiling.
“Sir?”
“Maybe you don’t remember. Yes, you might be too young. I can recall a time–a distant time, mind you–when things were so much simpler. I remember my father taking me fishing, family trips to the ocean, that sort of thing. There were no computers then, and everything was simpler.” He leaned forward, his eyes piercing. “Things were better.”
Norbert squirmed in his seat. “Computers certainly have changed things, but human nature is fairly constant. People can use machines for good or bad. It’s like anything else.”
Mason shook his head slowly from side to side. “Oh, my innocent, naive friend. You don’t see it, do you? Look what we’ve been doing here at the agency. We have violated people in the most insidious way. We’re guilty of electronic rape, Norbert, and we have to set things right.” He leaned forward again. “We have to set things back the way they were. We’re no better than him, or them, because they left me with him. They should have known.”
He was talking nonsense. Norbert had had enough. “I have to get back to the lab.” He slowly rose and moved towards the door.
“Sit down, Norbert.” When he didn’t respond, Mason reached into a desk drawer and produced a gun. He casually pointed it at Norbert and gestured towards the couch with his head. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be like this.”
Norbert was shocked. He sat back down. “Why are you doing this?”
Mason placed the gun on his desk, within easy reach. “You know, I think that deep down inside you understand what I’m talking about. A child deserves the protection of its parents. Betrayal is unthinkable.”
“Whatever you say.”
“It doesn’t really matter.” Mason looked at his watch. “We just need to spend some quality time together. Time to let things–resolve themselves.”
Norbert’s eyebrow shot up at the word ‘resolve’. It was a computer term, referring to how Internet addresses were located. “What have you done?” Norbert leaned forward as Mason looked at his watch again.
“In another three minutes it won’t matter. Pascua will be fully deployed.”
Norbert felt his blood run cold. “Who are you targeting?”
Mason smiled. It felt good to be on the other side of technical ignorance for a change. “How’s it feel, computer boy? What’s the matter, can’t keep up?”
“I don’t understand. You know how destructive Pascua is.” He hesitated. “Did you target the FBI?”
Mason laughed. “Yes, them. Along with a few others.”
“But that’s not the way it’s written. There are safety protocols.”
Mason leaned back and smiled. “I rewrote the program.”
Norbert’s head was swimming. “That’s not…possible.”
“Oh, I had help. A certain under-appreciated computer scientist was gracious enough to explain his greatest work of art. The rest took some research, but I was able to modify your address range selection criteria, and the security protocols have been completely removed.” Mason seemed quite satisfied with himself.
Norbert half stood. “You can’t do this. If you really have made those changes, then releasing it will have devastating consequences.”
“You don’t say?” He looked at his watch. “Well that’s a shame, because as of now, Pascua has left the building.”
Norbert slowly shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Go check your log file. You’ll find that my portal emitted a single binary encoded object less than a minute ago. The signature matches the upgraded Pascua program. It’s on its way.”
Norbert slowly got to his feet and walked to the door. This time Mason didn’t stop him. He opened the door and stopped in the threshold, looking back.
“Mr. Mason?”
“Yes?”
“Why Pascua?”
“You mean why did I send it? I thought I had explained that.”
“No. Why did you name it ‘Pascua’?”
“Oh, that. It’s from Pascua Florida. Spanish for ‘Easter’.” Norbert didn’t get it, which showed in his expression. “That which rises comes from that which falls. There must be atonement.”
“Atonement?”
“For sin, Norbert. Evil has taken root, even here, and it must be purged.”
“What evil?”
“You haven’t been listening. Surf the net, boy. Even a well-intentioned person will eventually come across filth and perversion. What do you think is responsible for that?”
“Not what, sir; who. It’s people who are responsible.”
“And we shall remove the tools of iniquity.”
“Not we. You.”
Mason smiled. “Oh, it is very much ‘we’. If you hadn’t written Pascua, this wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you, son.” Mason returned to his to work
as if nothing had happened.
Norbert rushed to his lab, hoping that maybe it was all a bad dream. Fifteen minutes later, he had confirmed Mason’s claims. Two minutes after that he was in the bathroom, puking his guts out.
***
When Agent Sharon and Justin arrived at Slocum’s apartment, it was just as the police had left it. The local police let them in and then departed. Justin went immediately to the Alpha, surprised that anyone would keep such a powerful unit in an apartment.
Sharon joined him. “Whatever they were up to, it was no good.”
“Yes,” agreed Justin, “but what were they up to?”
The Alpha was shut down, and now it simply sat, darkened and silent.
“We’re not going to learn anything here,” said Sharon. “We’ll have to move this stuff back to the lab. I want to talk to the folks they arrested, too.”
“Will they still be at the local station?”
Sharon nodded. “Yeah. We’ll pick them up on the way back.”
Twenty minutes later they walked into the small police station. The sergeant at the desk looked up as they approached.
“Help you?”
“I’m Agent Sharon, FBI.” He showed his badge. “You’re holding three prisoners. A man and two women that were brought in earlier today.”
“Yeah, we’ve been expecting you. Paperwork’s already filled out. Just sign it and they’re yours.” He produced a stack of papers from a nearby shelf. “Sign three copies for each prisoner.” Sharon did as instructed, and showed his badge again, from which the sergeant copied down his name and number.
“Down the hall and to the right. Bring this copy with you. Do you need someone to help get them in your car?”
“That would be helpful,” said Sharon.
A few minutes later, Stanley, Katherine and Kayoko, hands cuffed, were unceremoniously escorted to Sharon’s car and placed in the back seat. Stanley protested that he didn’t want to go, which brought laughter from one of the officers. It was what Stanley expected.
“Have a nice ride.” The words echoed in his ears as the door slammed shut and the car pulled away from the police station. They drove for several minutes in silence before Stanley spoke.
“So I guess we’re on our way to the agency?”
Justin looked at him. “You mean the Bureau.”
“Yeah, right.” Stanley looked out the window at the lights in the houses they passed. He longed for the time when he and Bobby and his mother were a happy family. How things had changed since then.
Sharon looked at Stanley in the rearview mirror. “That was quite a setup back at the apartment. Where’d you get the Alpha?”
Stanley was in no mood for answering questions. “Compaq,” he responded sarcastically.
Sharon nodded. “I figured. It’s not a cheap toy, though. I’m guessing you had some pretty serious backers. Maybe from overseas?”
Stanley looked at Sharon’s face in the mirror. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, c’mon. We know you’ve been messing with the Internet, but I doubt you’re the top dog, so we can probably cut a deal if you give us some names. How about it?”
Stanley was suddenly hopeful. “Who do you work for?”
“We told you, we’re with the FBI,” said Sharon.
“And you have something to do with computer security?” Stanley was leaning forward now.
“My name is Agent Sharon, and yes, I have something to do with computer security. But I’m sure you already knew that.”
Katherine suddenly joined in. “Are you the ones who sent out the optical pulse?”
Sharon looked at Justin, who smiled. “I’m afraid we can’t discuss Bureau tactics with you.”
“Please,” said Stanley, “you have to listen to me. There’s something going on here that you don’t know about.”
“What might that be?” asked Sharon.
“There are others involved, a group of people who manipulate the Internet data stream. They’ve been doing it for years.”
“Right,” said Sharon. “So maybe I should release you and go arrest someone else.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Stanley. “Keep us in custody–that’s fine. But you have to shut down the agency’s operation.”
“The Agency?” Sharon thought he meant the CIA.
“Not that agency.” Stanley looked at Kayoko. “What’s it called?”
“National Communications,” she said.
“Never heard of them,” said Sharon.
“They exist, and they regularly tap into the Internet to extract information.”
“Look. I don’t know who you are–yet–but I do know that someone was messing with the Internet, and that someone was you.”
Stanley nodded. “Yes, we were in the data stream, but only because we were trying to stop the agency.”
“They’re starting to try to influence events,” said Kayoko. “They want to induce a societal profile, rather than simply monitor it.”
“A what?” asked Sharon.
“A societal profile. Look,” said Kayoko. “ I know this sounds crazy, but they’ve been doing it for years. They have devices planted all over that give them access to the fiber optic cables that the Internet runs on.”
“What kind of devices?”
Kayoko shook her head. “I don’t know, exactly, but they’re quite sophisticated. They somehow reflect signals from the fiber back to the agency.”
“You seem to know an awful lot about this agency for someone who’s not involved.”
“I used to work for them.”
“Used to?”
“We parted ways. I didn’t like the direction they were headed.”
They drove in silence for several more minutes. Sharon seemed to be mulling things over.
“Do you have any proof?” he asked.
“You can examine the logs from our computer,” said Stanley.
“We will do that,” said Sharon. “What about this agency?”
“We can tell you where they’re…look out!” Stanley’s shouted warning was too late, as a car darted over from two lanes away and rammed into them. Sharon lost control of the wheel, and they veered to the right, crashing into a parked truck. Steam billowed from under the hood as Sharon lay slumped over his now deflated airbag.
Suddenly someone was pulling Sharon’s door open. “Get out!”
Sharon was too dazed to respond, and Justin simply watched in stunned silence.
“Slocum!” yelled Kayoko. He quickly took Sharon’s gun from its holster, and opened the back door. Kayoko was nearest, and with Slocum’s aid she quickly got out from the car.
“Hurry,” said Slocum. “These two will come to their senses soon.” Everyone got out, and Slocum went back to the front seat to try to find the key for the handcuffs. It was in Sharon’s jacket pocket, and the cuffs were quickly removed. “Let’s get out of here.” Slocum walked towards Katherine’s car.
As they started to move away, Katherine stopped. “Wait a minute, Robert. Did you know that these guys are real FBI agents?”
Slocum stopped. “Are you sure about that?”
“Why would they lie to us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe so you would take them into their confidence.”
“Are we headed towards the agency?” asked Stanley.
Slocum shook his head. “No. But the FBI has a regional data center in this direction. That could be where they were going.” He walked back and pulled Sharon’s wallet out of his pocket, checking his identification. It appeared authentic. “Looks real, but it could be a forgery. It doesn’t matter, though. We still want to get away from here.”
“I don’t think so,” said Katherine. “If we stay, we may be able to convince them that our story is true.”
“And if they don’t believe you?” asked Slocum.
“Then we’d be in trouble.”
“There’s another issue,” said Stanley. “We don’t have any other way to fight t
he agency now.”
Slocum was hard pressed to counter this argument. With no equipment, and few resources, they were out of options. At least if they could persuade the FBI that the threat was real, there was a chance that the agency could be stopped. He went to Sharon’s side and tried to help him.
“Get your hands off me.” Sharon reached awkwardly for his gun, but his hand came out empty. He looked at Justin, who did not carry a weapon, and back at Slocum. “What do you want?”
Slocum motioned for Katherine to come nearer. She squatted down next to Sharon.
“Listen,” she said. “We could have easily escaped. Killed you–whatever. We chose to stay because what we told you is the truth, and we need you. You don’t know it yet, but you need us, too.”
Sharon was in pain, his arm injured. “I don’t need you.”
“Please, you have to believe me,” said Katherine. “Look, this is my colleague,” she pointed at Stanley. “We work for a company called ScanDat, and…”
“ScanDat? I’ve heard that name before.” His mind was still foggy, but then he remembered. “Yes–it was you! You were hacking into the Net, and you were using ScanDat as a base of operations. We should have shut you down.”
“Yes! We were raided some time back. At the time we thought it was by the agency we’ve been telling you about.”
“You were messing with the data stream.”
“Yes,” said Katherine. “But as we told you, we were trying to combat the agency. Please, it’s a very long story, but you have to believe us.”
At that moment Bobby jumped out of the back seat of Katherine’s car and ran up to his father.
“Dad!”
Sharon watched the reunion. “You don’t exactly look like terrorists.” He looked at Slocum. “Except maybe you.”
“Thanks,” said Slocum. He flipped Sharon’s gun around, and held it out. Sharon looked at it for a moment, and then slowly accepted it.
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