“I told you, we own the system. We’ll check you in.”
Slade laughed. “I have to check-in in person.”
“Shit,” Kat said. “That means we have twenty minutes.”
Chapter 54
Jacob ran down the hall, his backpack bouncing. He’d never shot anyone before. When he was twelve his father took him hunting for the first time. They went to his uncle’s hunting lease and stayed in a deer blind for an hour, waiting for a buck to come to the feeder. It was the coldest day of an unusually cold December, and when the sun got lower in the sky, the cold became almost unbearable for a boy used to the Texas heat. His father saw him shivering and told him they would leave soon, it would be too dark. Then he saw three shapes emerging from the line of trees into the clearing. They were backlit by the sun coming through the trees, but he could see one was a nice buck, its rack casting a long shadow across the dead grass of the clearing. His father padded him on the shoulder and pointed. He nodded. The deer made their way to the piles of corn spread by the feeder, stopping occasionally and looking around. The only sound in the blind was the sound of cars on the county road, the ever-present hum of gas wells in the distance, and his breathing. His father told him to let the buck get to the corn and then pick his shot. When he was ready, he brought the gun to his shoulder, his eye to the scope. With the buck in his crosshairs, he released the safety, let out his breath, and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the shot filling the small deer blind, he felt a rush go through his body, and the buck reared back slightly, letting out sound mixed with surprise and pain before falling, the other deer scattering in a crazed zigzag across the clearing to the tree line. The mix of pride a remorse Jacob felt then was nothing like he felt now, after shooting a person for the first time. He was surprisingly devoid of feeling, his mind only on the time ticking away before more security came and the thought he may have to shoot some else.
The control room for the central core of the network was a small with two chairs at a workstation and a window looking into a second room housing the quantum computer core. Jacob shut the door and locked it. He pulled one of the chairs to the door and got a pair of handcuffs out of his backpack. He stood on the chair and slid the cuffs around the door closer and pulled the zip tie tight.
Satisfied the door would hold, he sat down at the workstation and took the modified flipper out of his backpack, placing it next to the input panel. He took out his code deck and linked it to the network, then linked the phone with the network and uploaded Two-Step’s program packet and virus.
He waited.
The small screen of the flipper lit up with a stream of unreadable data. It was working. There was no way of telling how well it was working, but it was working.
“How much time do I have, Kat?” he asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” Kat said.
“How’s it going on your end, Sandy?”
“Everything is almost in place.”
“I’m going to direct link,” he said. “The door is secure, but if anyone comes into that hallway, let me know, Kat.”
“You got it.”
The network AI’s representational construct of itself was the Your Better Life building, or rather as a glowing and fluid, multidimensional, digital blueprint of the building. The construct radiated out from whatever point Jacob looked, and all of the floors could be seen at once in a never-ending fractal while being contained within the familiar DNA shape of the building. It was difficult for Jacob to get his bearings. He needed to find where the new code was being stored. He looked around. If the AI was using a representation of the building as a construct, maybe it stored data in relation to where it was being used in the building. He had an idea. He searched for where the lobby should be. Rather than the data-dense rooms above, the lobby was relatively empty. He was right. Now he needed to find the testing lab. How was he supposed to do that? He thought for a moment. He looked at the directory in the lobby earlier. It had to be on the directory. One benefit of being directly linked was the ability to better generate visual memories, but he hadn’t looked at the directory for long. He concentrated, the directory taking shape in front of him. It was faint, except for the spot where his name used to be. The lab would be close to that, all of the research labs were on four consecutive floors. His lab had been on the 9th floor, the lowest of the four, and Xia had said she moved up to the work on this project. It had to be one of the higher floors. His mind’s eye went up the directory. Refinement Lab. Exploratory Lab. Testing Lab. Each lab name represented different development stages, so if they were testing the code now, it should be in the testing lab. That seemed the most logical. That’s what he would do. Move the code to correspond with…
“What are you doing?”
His line of thought was disrupted by a disembodied voice.
“Kat?”
“No, my name is not cat,” the voice said.
“Who are you? Where are you?”
“I am Your Better Life, and I am here.”
“Your Better Life? Are you the AI running this network?”
“I am. Why have you slowed my program? What are your intentions?”
“I need to access some code for a project.”
“Why have you slowed my program?” the AI repeated.
“It was necessary to get the code.”
There wasn’t time for this. He needed to find the files. He decided to try the testing lab on the 12th floor, and started for it, gliding through the transparent blueprint.
“Hold on a moment. I do not believe you are authorized to access any code.”
Jacob continued to the 12th floor. “Authorized or not, I need that code.”
He passed through the 11th floor into the 12th. Data filled the room and every representation of it spanning out from where Jacob stood. Finding the code wouldn’t be hard, once he figured out what code he was looking for. If they were testing the code today, it should be the newest files in the room. He ran a date-based search.
“I am afraid I am going to have to stop you from completing this procedure,” the AI said.
He knew this had been too easy.
A large spike rose out of the transparent floor, knocking him back.
“What the hell was that?”
“As I said, I cannot allow you to complete this procedure.”
Jacob had never seen a system’s security do anything like that before. His file search was almost complete; he just had to hold on for a little bit. What could he do? The virus was an option, but he didn’t want to release it yet and chance infecting the code files. The endless rooms of data gave him an idea. This was essentially a database, so why not try an SQL injection type of attack. It was outdated, but it worked on the hijacked code decks. At least it would give the AI something deal with other than him while he searched for the data.
“You have to tell me how you are slowing my system,” the AI said. “It is affecting my efficiency in dealing with your unauthorized search.”
“Sorry, can’t do that.” He readied the injection attack.
He felt the floor start to shift beneath his feet. Another spike formed out of the data as he jumped aside, only to have another shoot up under his foot where it landed.
“You must be contained and your program mapped for prevention of further attacks,” the AI said.
“I’m not a program.” He sent the injection attack to the database.
“That form of attack is not much more than a minor nuisance,” the AI said.
Jacob sent another injection attack and another. Maybe several would do something.
His search for the code finished. There were three files of code with today’s date. There wasn’t time to sort through them, he wouldn’t know exactly which was the one he was looking for anyway, so he would have to take all three and sort it out later. He began downloading the files to his deck when a figure began to form in the corner of the room, a being of data streams flowing and coalescing into the shape of muscle and sinew. This was definitely so
mething he hadn’t seen before.
“Your actions have gone far enough,” the AI said as the figure approached.
He didn’t have time to react before the figure lashed out, striking him across the chest, sending him through the ceiling. He let out a grunt. The pain felt real.
“Are you okay?” Kat’s voice echoed in his head. “What’s going on in there?”
He didn’t have a chance to answer before the figure was standing over him. It raised a fist and landed another blow on his shoulder. Grunting again, he stumbled back.
“Sandy, can you get down there?” Kat said through the earpiece.
“I can’t,” Sandy said. “I’ve got to stay linked to the security system.”
Sandy’s voice was muffled and unclear. The construct looked like it was in a haze and there was a buzzing in his head. That last blow had him dazed, and he couldn’t think straight. He shook his head and another blow came crashing down on him, sending him through the floor and back into the testing lab. He had to fight back. If that thing could hit him, maybe he could hit it. He checked the download. It was going so damn slow. The data stream figure took another swing. In a fluid movement, Jacob ducked, the figure’s fist grazing his cheek, and he twisted, driving his elbow in what would be the figure’s rib cage. The figure stepped back. That worked. Sort of. The figure stepped toward him again, raising both fists and driving them down on his head. He tried to dodge, but the fists came down on his back. He fell to the floor. The figure lifted a foot and brought it down with force. Jacob kicked out, striking the figure’s other leg. The leg buckled and the figure went down. Jacob checked the download. It was finished. The figure got back up, coming at him again. He released the virus. Now, he needed to sever the link and get out of this construct.
“Something is not correct,” the AI said. “What did you do?”
The construct began to flicker. The data streaming through the figure began to flow in spurts and irregular patterns.
“Got to go,” Jacob said.
He came out of the link still dazed, and there was a buzzing in his ears. No, it wasn’t a buzzing. It was Kat.
“Jacob! Jacob! Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Thank God.”
“I got the code.”
“Good. You need to get out of there, now. We’ve got five minutes.”
“I need to take a minute...”
“I don’t know if you have a minute.”
“All right. I’m going.”
He steadied himself with the edge of the desk and stood. He tried to open the door. It didn’t open. Then he remembered the zip cuffs and got back on the chair and cut them with the knife he took from Slade.
The brightness of the hallway seemed more intense after the time in the AI construct. He took off his net glasses and put on his sunglasses.
“What just happened?” Kat asked with concern in her voice.
“I’m fine. It’s just so bright.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I’ll put them back on.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He turned a corner and saw Slade still cuffed to the door, a small pool of blood forming at his feet.
Jacob started to say something when the hallway was filled with the sound of alarms.
Chapter 55
“Sandy, can you get down there?”
“I can’t,” Sandy said. “I’ve got to stay linked to the security system.”
She felt helpless. Jacob was in trouble, and she was stuck in a restroom. She hit the side of the stall in frustration. She had to stay put. Maintaining the link with the security system took constant monitoring. The system had been trying to regain control and kick her off from the start. If she went on the move, she could miss its next counter-attack, and if the system kicked her out, Kat would be blind.
She blocked the thought. She had to focus on the task at hand. Jacob would have to take care of himself. She hoped he could. Right now, she had to set up the cascading failure virus that would wipe the security system’s data, wiping any record of their being here, or of Two-Step’s trip to the infirmary. Assuming that part of the plan was going well. She hated not knowing what was going on outside of this damn stall she'd been in for what seemed like hours.
Just get your part done, and have faith it will work. Isn’t that what she told Xia before? Things work out when people act as if it will. She just needed to do her part and finish the hack and bring down the system. The sooner she did that, the sooner she could go help Jacob.
Kat called to Jacob and got only silence in response. She ignored it and worked faster. No mistakes, she told herself, just flow with the code.
The restroom door opened. The sound of heels on the tile came toward her stall and stopped. “Ms. Clarke? Are you in here?”
Shit. The receptionist from the interview room. She stopped inputting code. How to handle this? Disguise her voice and say she’s not here? Tell the woman she was sick? She’d lost track of how long she was gone. The woman might not buy she was sick. She had no choice. She flushed the toilet.
“I’m in here.”
“Are you okay? You didn’t return for your interview, and the front desk said you didn’t check out. I thought I should come look for you.”
“Well, it’s sort of embarrassing. It seems I’ve got some stomach problems. My boyfriend took me to a real meat burger place last night, and I’ve never had one before. Well, as I said, it’s a bit embarrassing.” She flushed again to drive home the point.
“Oh. I see. Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll just go back to my desk. If you would like, you can come by after you… I mean, if you want to set up another interview, I can help you with that. I’m going to go back now. I hope you’re all right.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Heels clicked on tile again and the door opened and shut.
“That went well,” Kat said. “But then again, who’s going to argue about diarrhea?”
Sandy laughed and went back to coding. “Almost there,” she said.
“Good. I still can’t get Jacob. He hasn’t come out of the room yet. He must still be linked with the network.”
Sandy put the finishing touches on the code and checked it. It was clean.
“It’s done,” she told Kat. “How do we want to handle this? After I deliver the packet, you might have another minute of visual before the system fails. And there’s the possibility the system has a failsafe and alarms go off when it goes down.”
“How fast can you get down to Jacob?”
“The stairs aren’t far. I can run down eight flights pretty fast if I need to.”
“You do.”
“Any word from Xia or Two-Step?”
“No. If there is a failsafe and he’s not out of the building yet, he could get burned.”
“Think positive.”
“Hold on,” Kat said with excitement in her voice. “Jacob’s moving inside the room. He’s out of the link.”
Sandy felt a rush of adrenaline. “I’m going to send and haul ass down there.”
She sent the code, put her deck in her backpack, and ran out of the restroom. She burst out of the door and into the hallway, drawing stares from a pair of women about to enter. Ignoring them, she ran to the stairwell. Going down the stairs, she felt like she couldn’t run fast enough. Kat called Jacob’s name again. Why wasn’t he answering? Something must have happened to him when he was linked. She didn’t know if she could, but she ran faster. The sound of her shoes hitting each stair reverberated throughout the stairwell. The virus packet should be open by now. She imagined the sound of her running keeping time to the virus cascading through the system. A sense of accomplishment welled up inside her and she smiled.
One floor away from her goal, she heard Jacob respond to Kat. She got to the door and reached for the handle. The alarms went off, filling the stairwell with a deafening wailing that echoed off the tile
and cement in a nightmarish cacophony.
She pulled on the door. It resisted. She pulled harder. A cry of pain came from the other side. She pulled again and could see someone handcuffed to the door handle. It was a security guard. Then through the open door, she saw Jacob, pistol in hand and leveled at the door opening. He looked dazed. Whatever he dealt with during the link still had him reeling. When he saw her, he lowered the pistol and smiled.
“I’m glad to see you,” Sandy said.
Jacob nodded and said, “Same.”
“We need to get the hell out of here.”
Jacob hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to do something about him,” he said, gesturing to the security guard.
“He won’t be able to identify us,” she said.
Jacob shook his head. “It’s Slade. He knows us. He knows you work at DeSoto’s.”
“Damn. Kat, what do you think?”
After a long moment, Kat said, “You have to kill him, or he’ll ID you.”
“Kill him?” Sandy said, shocked at the suggestion.
This got Slade’s attention. He looked up at them and said, “I’ve got a kid, please.”
“Fuck,” Jacob said.
“You’ll regret it if you don’t,” Kat said.
“I’ll regret it if I do,” Jacob said.
“You need to decide. We’ve got to get out of here,” Sandy said.
“I won’t say anything,” Slade said.
Jacob looked at Slade. At Sandy.
“You can’t trust him, Jacob,” Kat said.
Sandy knew Kat was right. The look in Jacob’s eyes told her he knew it too. “Make a decision,” she said.
Jacob raised his gun and fired, the sound mixing with the constant noise of the alarms. “Let’s go,” he said, not looking at her.
Chapter 56
Pain surged through Two-Step’s entire body. It was like his nerves were being pulled on by some outside force and then let go to snap back in place. He couldn’t stop his body from contorting, and when he tried, the pain only increased. Xia said it would hurt, but he wasn’t prepared for this. Then the pain went away. The second line of code she sent to him killed the pain, but he still had no control over his body.
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