by Ben Winston
Being one of the better programmers at least that I know of, I’ve poked my nose in enough classified computer systems to know that there is plenty of reasons to be paranoid about our benevolent government. I haven’t found enough evidence to believe in the existence of the so called ‘Illuminati’, yet, but then again, I haven’t been able to disprove it either. Basically, there is plenty of empirical evidence to support either side of that argument, but nothing really decisive.
“Eric, the assessment is still running, but I can tell you already that her risk factor is extreme. It is almost a certainty that she is being watched closely and her data has already been tagged. There is a better than seventy percent chance she will have an ‘accident’ shortly after graduation,” Sarah reported.
“What are the factors you are using as indicators? You haven’t been running the assessment for very long,” I asked.
“There are several other labs looking into the field of Nanotechnology, but none of them are as close as she is. She is also the only person doing research in this field that is not already controlled by the government. Her persona is well known. She has been mentioned in several major publications as being a pioneer in her field. Her smart phone and laptop have hardwired traps and traces installed in them, and her lab computer has active monitoring software installed on it,” Sarah reported.
“Okay, I get the picture. I’ll have to talk to her about all of this as soon as I can. Until then, please make sure you keep a close eye on her. If anything strange happens, I want to know about it immediately please,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll do that, Eric,” Sarah said as Ellie came back in the room carrying a big bowl of popcorn and two sodas.
“The Moms are out to dinner, there was a note on the fridge. When did you say Christy was coming home again?” Ellie asked.
––––––––
Ellie and I played for about an hour, until our moms got back from dinner. They watched us play until we finished that round, then we all started talking. I called Christy back, and set my phone by the TV so when Sarah put her image up on the TV we would have to look at the camera to talk back to her. After introductions were made, and the women had a chance to gossip a little, I began the discussion.
“Christy won’t be able to help with the business because she’s already got something going on. Which reminds me, I wanted to talk to you about that, Sweetheart,” I said.
“What about?” Christy asked.
“I had Sarah tell me about your research. I’m worried about your security; not only for your data, but for you as well,” I said.
“Still paranoid, Little Man?” Christy teased.
“Actually, I have more reasons to be paranoid now than I did before. I can tell you all about them later. But trust me when I tell you that I am seriously afraid for you right now,” I replied. “I would like to make a place for you to send a backup of all your data, and from now on, I don’t want you to go anywhere without your phone, that means even to the bathroom. Please, I know it sounds really paranoid on my part, but I have reasons I just can’t tell you about right now. So all I can say is trust me, please.”
“Okay Eric, I’ll trust you. But I have a lot of data. I had to get triple the amount of storage normally given to students on the server. We’re talking about five or so terabytes of data,” Christy said. “I don’t have anything on my laptop except for my dissertation, but there is a copy of it with the data so I can simply delete this copy when I’m finished on Wednesday.”
“Okay, Sarah can handle the data transfer tonight. I’ll make sure you have plenty of room for it. Now, please don’t go anywhere alone, and don’t go out where you can be grabbed easily,” I said, almost begging.
“Wow, you’re really worried. What’s gotten you so spooked?” Christy asked.
“I really can’t tell you Dear, but I will a soon as I can,” I said. Sarah put a message up on the bottom of the two screens; ‘this line is bugged – Sarah’.
“Okay Eric, you win. I’ll be careful. I’ll tell my roommates that I’ve got the jitters and it’s getting to my tummy, that way they won’t bug me to go out,” Christy said.
After that, the rest of the ladies got back into the conversation, and I noticed how quickly Christy was accepted into the family, it was like she belonged with us. I went to bed dreaming of her.
––––––––
The next morning I climbed out of bed, and did my morning routine. I still had school, but today would be different, I hoped. I staggered to my bathroom and took care of the morning stuff. I grabbed my backpack and phone, then quickly made some toaster waffles, spread jelly on them, and off to school I went.
In both English and History, the instructors just shook their heads as they accepted the neatly printed papers.
“Trying to get out of here early, Eric?” Mr. Thorogood, my history teacher, asked.
“Actually, Sir, yes I am. It’s not so much that I’m in a hurry to graduate, but there’s a certain business opportunity that I would like to get started on. I’ve got a business savvy person to look over my business plan and the market analysis. She isn’t finished with all her research yet, but she did say it looks promising,” I replied, reluctant to lie to the kindly old gentleman.
“I’m just thankful you’ve stuck around as long as you have, Son. The last genius we had go through here tested out at the beginning of the year. When it comes time, I’ll approve your request. It’s been a pleasure to learn with you Eric,” the old man said, holding out his hand to shake mine. Very quietly he added, “Remember how the Nazis acted, just before the Second World War began. Fascism can exist anywhere, Eric, if the conditions are right.”
I nodded, and whispered back to him, “Welcome to the United States, Mr. Thorogood. I’ll remember.”
He nodded and smiled like a proud parent. He handed me a hall pass. “On your way then,” he told me, even though class had just started. I thanked him and left.
English class went much the same way, and I’d finished all the other classes early so I could spend more time in the computer lab.
Mr. Sandbar (I swear to god that’s his real name!) had a free period this hour, but didn’t mind letting me into the lab. Today, however, instead of heading for my usual work terminal, I followed him back to his desk.
“I finished my final project,” I told him, and handed him all the disks. “I also have a signed copyright release form for the school; I’m giving it to the district. Since you also have the source code, you should be able to handle any bugs I didn’t catch, or mods you might want to make in the future.”
He snorted. “I’d drop over dead with astonishment if you missed anything major in this code, Eric. But giving it to the School? Eric, do you know how much this program could be worth?”
I nodded. “A couple million, I hope. I thought it would be a nice addition to the miserly budget that the state’s been giving them.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “This isn’t due for another two weeks. I know you like to finish things early, but you’ve never turned something in this far ahead of the due date. What gives?”
“I’ve got something I’d like to get started on; to do that, I need to be someplace other than school, so I’m getting all my stuff finished in the hope that they’ll release me until graduation,” I replied honestly.
He tapped the program CD into the palm of his hand. “So, this is really a bribe then? It should work. I think the administration was thinking about offering you an early release anyway.”
“No, in fact I’d like to wait to offer it to them until after they either release me or decline my request,” I told him.
He grinned. “I knew I liked you for a reason. You’ll never be any good at politics; you have too much honesty and too strong of an ethical code for it!”
I chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment!”
“Trust me, it was. You know, I think you might be in luck; I do be
lieve that the Superintendent is here today for some reason or another. If we can catch him and Stan before they finish, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone,” Mr. Sandbar suggested.
––––––––
Meanwhile, in Boston, Sarah needed to talk to Christy. “Christy?” Sarah asked once she saw that the woman was out of bed and moving around. It was after ten o’clock, and Sarah was going to wake her soon if she hadn’t already stirred.
Christy jumped a little at the sound, but seemed to quickly relax. “Good Morning, Sarah. What can I do for you?”
“There was a problem with your data transfer last night. I completed the transfer, but took some actions on your behalf I’d like you to approve.”
“What was the problem?” Christy asked a little concerned.
“There was a data tap on your files. I removed it, traced it back to its origin, and removed your data from that location. I then searched the rest of that network and removed all copies of your data. This prompted me to verify data security on your laptop and smart phone. Both had the same aforementioned data taps, as well as a voice monitor on the smart phone. The Laptop is secure, but the smartphone is hardwired, so it is still tapped. Although I removed any trace of my presence from the remote systems, whoever it was is bound to wonder how all their monitors on you and your data were removed,” Sarah reported.
“Shit! There’s only one group it could be; one of our three letter intelligence agencies. I guess I can expect a visit from a few ‘Matrix’-style, men-in-black then?” Christy asked.
“I do not believe so. Your phone has a built-in GPS locator. I cannot disable it without also disabling your phone. So, they can still track you. However, if they ever discover that you’ve created a working prototype, I am certain they will immediately detain you, for your own protection, of course, and confiscate the prototypes and all the data,” Sarah replied. “The possibility remains that it was a non-domestic agency as well.”
“Non-domestic? You mean a foreign country? How would they even know anything about me?” Christy asked.
“May of last year, ‘The Journal of American Medicine’ featured an article on advances in nanotechnologies. You were mentioned as one of the ‘bright young minds’ contributing to medical knowledge. September, also of last year, ‘Popular Science’ ran a speculative article on what we might expect from the ‘young pioneers’ of nano-science; you were mentioned four times. I have seventeen more references to you and your work that have been available to the general public. Do you wish me to continue?” Sarah asked reasonably.
“Damn! I turned in a copy of my work as well as my thesis so it could be evaluated. They can always just grab that. It doesn’t have all my work in it, but it has enough. Even though the school protects such information, I don’t think they had this in mind when they built their security,” Christy said worriedly. “Have you talked to Eric about this? Since this is right up his alley, he might have a better idea how to deal with it.”
“No I haven’t. Since it was your data, my directives sent me to you first. I can report all of this to Eric if you wish?”
“I do, and mark it urgent please?” Christy asked.
“Certainly Christy,” Sarah replied.
“That is one smart fucking program,” Christy mumbled as she grabbed a clean towel and headed for the shower.
––––––––
My phone softly chimed the arrival of an email message while Mr. Sandbar and I were walking to the office. Pulling it out, I tapped the received button, noticed it was from Christy and marked urgent. We were getting close to the office, and Mr. Sandbar had implied time was a factor, so I put the phone back as we entered the office.
We spoke with the secretary, who called the principal to ask if we could have a moment or two. After hanging up the phone, she grinned and said they’d just finished up and we could go right in.
After introductions were made, I made my request to be excused from school until graduation, so I could get the family business going. I pointed out to them that I had completed the work in all my classes, including the finals.
The Superintendent looked at the Principal. “What do you think, Stan?”
“I think we’re lucky he’s waited this long to ask. Eric is at least as gifted as the Rogers girl, but is trying to stay under the radar so to speak. He prefers anonymity to celebrity. I do believe we should grant his request and allow him to leave school to take advantage of this business opportunity. We just can’t keep his mind caged here without his participation,” Principal Eichens replied.
Superintendent Bock nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll take care of the details with the board.” He nodded toward Mr. Sandbar. “So, did he just drag you along for moral support, or as a character witness, John?”
“Actually, I’m here to testify, but for a different reason.” He winked at me. “You’re on again, Sport.”
I cleared my throat, and told the two administrators about the software I’d written for them. Principal Eichens had a huge grin on his face as he listened, and Superintendent Bock got more interested as I went on. When I finished up with the signed copyright release for the program, both men were stunned.
“Gentlemen, so you get an idea of what young Eric has just done for this school district. He’s given us a program far superior to the one we’re currently using. This program meshes so well with all versions of Windows, Mac OS, and Unix, it’ll astound you. Either myself or Vera as net admin for the district can put this on our servers, and we can make the switch seamlessly. It’s far easier to use, way beyond standard computer operation and no special training is required. It’ll already interface with all of the diverse databases we’re using.
“Most importantly, he's also giving us his source code and design notes so we can create upgrades for it when the time comes,” John said, and grinned like a shark. “I don’t know if you gents even thought of this angle, but since we own the copyrights on this, we can sell copies to other districts or even most colleges to supplement our budget.”
“What about data security?” Superintendent Bock asked. “That’s been a major concern of the board as well as the PTA. We know somebody is selling grades, but we can’t find how they’re getting in.”
“I used a system based on the same method of encryption that our Military uses to protect its secure data. However, I took it one step further; in order to gain access you have to be on a pre-approved machine. Passwords are double blind, so if someone forgets or loses it, report it to IT immediately as they are the only ones who can reset the account. Complete instructions are on the source code disk,” Eric replied. “I can promise you, there is no way Todd Anderson is going to get past that.”
Principal Eichens chuckled and wrote down the information on a note.
“It’s Anderson? I wouldn’t have thought he was even capable of this; it certainly doesn’t show in his work!” Mr. Sandbar replied, astounded.
I shrugged, “Why bother doing the work, if you’re just going to ‘fix’ it later anyway. Personally, I think it’s probably the dumbest thing anyone could do. Please don’t think I’m ratting him out for spite or revenge; I’m not. He’s just hurting himself and others by doing what he’s doing.”
“How much do you think we should offer it to the other schools for?” Superintendent Bock asked.
“How much did you pay for the code you have now?” I asked.
“Twenty thousand, six years ago,” He answered.
“Has the price gone down?” I asked.
“Actually, it’s gone up; plus the price of the yearly ‘service packs’ really hurts,”
“Those bastards charge you for upgrades?” I asked. That was pure larceny!
The big man shrugged. “When they’re the only game in town, they can do pretty much what they want, Eric.”
“Well, they’re not alone anymore,” I said. “I hope you like it.”
Principal Eichens winked at Mr. Sa
ndbar. “So Eric, why didn’t you give us the software before asking for the early out? You had to know it would have greatly swayed our thinking in your direction.”
“For that very reason, Sir. I wrote that program for the school. It was my intent from the beginning to give it to the district. However, I didn’t want either of you gentlemen thinking it was a bribe to influence your decision. Even if you’d denied my request, I’d still have given the program to you,” I replied, honestly. “With all the budget cuts forced on you, I thought this might help.”
The Superintendent shook his head, smiling. “You’re a wonder, Son. Even if we never sell a copy, just using this will save us considerable money. I think it’s a good bet that we’ll use it, especially with John and Vera, the district IT specialists, to verify your program for us.”
Mr. Sandbar smirked. “Vera is already somewhat familiar with it, since I had to ask her to come over to go over a couple things I wasn’t sure about. I think she leaked the secret, because Stan was grinning when Eric started his pitch.”
“Excellent! Then we can bring this before the board this month instead of next. The meeting is this Friday evening. Can you be there as well, Eric?” Superintendent Bock asked.
“I’ll try my best, Sir. What time and where?” I asked.
“The District Offices at Seven PM.?”
I noted it down on my phone to discuss with the ladies when I got home. “Thank you, Sir. Mr. Sandbar has my cell number if any of you can think of any questions for me before then. May I be excused?” I asked, wanting to get going.
Both administrators stood, shook my hand and thanked me for the program.
When Mr. Sandbar and I got out to the hall, he turned to shake my hand as well. “I need to get back to my classroom, Eric. It’s been a real kick having you in class; don’t be a stranger, Okay?”
“Thanks for your help in there; they seemed impressed, but your testimony sealed it,” I said.
“You give me too much credit, Eric. Stan was already primed for it, but your prompt answers to Bock’s questions is what got him. What I said just added to his decision. You know, when we’re alone, you can call me John.”
