The Abacus Equation

by Peter Stremus

  Chapter 34

  The guard at the entrance nibbled languidly at his apple when Pieter entered the building, soaking wet, and asked for Vince Smith. The man pointed, dripping apple in his hand, towards the stairs saying: “second floor. Third door to your right. I will inform him that you are here. He is expecting you.”

  The corridor was shielded by a transparent roof through which Pieter could see the dark sky from which the last half hour the rain had been pouring down continuously. He combed his wet hair with his fingers, knocked and entered the room.

  Vince Smith was, to put it short, a man. Broad, muscled, square, tanned. Everything was dark with the man. His eyes, his short trimmed beard, his face. He stood up from his desk and gave Pieter a firm handshake. Pieter tried not to show the pain as his metacarpals cracked.

  “I have been informed about your round with Abdi. Let me immediately and formally declare that I have nothing to do with it. Not even because he had stolen my job. And no, I will not kill Bramaud now that in his turn he is stealing my promotion. By the way, where is Abdi?

  “He is questioning Marsha King at this very moment. He did not like to walk through the rain.”

  “That old fox. I can imagine he prefers miss King. She is a real beauty. Apparently both Ian and Vladimir have a very good taste when it comes to their PA's. But alright, the fact that he does not interrogate me personally is already a good sign. It means that he does not suspect me.”

  “Oh really? What makes you so sure? And what if I suspect you?” Pieter really felt insulted by Vince's reaction, making him feel like a second grade rookie.

  Not at all under the impression, Smith answered: “I know Abdi long enough. According to me he already has his own shortlist of possible perpetrators and a working theory that he is now testing.”

  “And do you have a working theory?”

  “I have suspicions. What happened yesterday is not an isolated fact. The past weeks a number of things occurred that could be interpreted as the prologue to Stratford's death.”

  Pieter felt that his trip to Vince could be very worthwhile, regardless what Abdi might think. “What kind of things?”

  “First of all we found an information leak. During the installation and start-up of our most recent computer systems someone must have installed a number of bots that transmitted at irregular intervals information to the outside world. We removed those bots but a couple of hours later they had been installed again in other parts of the system. When we close one leak, two others appear somewhere else. And they become more and more difficult to trace. All points at a combination of external hackers with internal access or help. When those two work together, you have a security nightmare. Judged by the quality of their work, you can almost claim that we are dealing with military grade hackers. The most professional level. The special forces of the cyber combat field.”

  Pieter decided to interrupt before Vince became too lyrical about his enemy. “So what kind of information is at stake and who might show an interest? After all, this is a development project. On a large scale, nevertheless, it is only development aid.”

  “You point it out correctly: on a large scale. Here in the labs and the research centres, in all peace and quiet, highly advanced technologies are developed. Much of it is basic research on which the outside world no longer spends money. This goes beyond some new irrigation systems or ethical genetics. Here new applications are developed for laser energy, notably deep sensors. I think you even have personal experience with it, your own encounter with the robot yesterday. But the applications range from defence systems to deep space research. There have been breakthroughs in alternative energy sources, new transportation systems. A lot of what is being developed and tested here has a high commercial value, not to speak about the military interests. And with the situation outside, what is happening here inside, all of a sudden has become very interesting for someone who wants to make a fast buck.”

  “And you think that Stratford's predecessor has something to do with it?”

  “The suspicion has always been there. That is why Ian and Vladimir decided to send him back. And I know that is not the official party line. We have never been able to prove anything. But it was remarkable that he got on the plane without one word of protest and that he is now living royally in Brazil. That is also why Ian wanted to have one of his men to dig to the bottom. Enters Jonathan.”

  “What is the exact role of Vladimir?”

  “Ian trusts upon Vladimir everything that has to do with security. For some obscure reason Ian is convinced that Vladimir with his Russian background has a second nature for it.”

  “Do you know what information has been stolen?”

  “Not everything, but we have been able to trace back content: drawings and software code of the security robots. Look, we are dealing with an organised team and Jonathan's arrival as head of security upset their plans. And that is why he had to disappear. And fast, very fast. Before he even could smell or touch the systems and be more cautious.”

  “Ian surely must have informed him about all of the dangers?”

  Vince held his hands in the air, almost in despair. “One would assume that, indeed. But I think that Ian did not grasp or believe the impact of the breach. Sometimes he can be a bit naive.”

  Pieter looked at Vince: “naive? Maybe I am but Ian certainly is not.”

  “We all have our blind spots, Pieter. And that includes Ian. And his is trust. Sometimes I believe he is so used that people do what he tells them to do, that he does not even dream of it that they have a hidden agenda to manipulate him. When Jonathan came here yesterday for the team briefing, it was clear that Ian had not informed him about all what is playing behind the scenes. We briefed him thoroughly.”

  Vince placed a neatly bound presentation binder in front of Pieter. “That was the presentation given to him yesterday. Current status, next steps, required resources. You can have it. It is no secret. And I don't want it to be a secret. We are dealing with a sophisticated group that does not stop for anything.”

  “Coming back to Jonathan. After the briefing, he was called away. How did that exactly go?”

  “Just after the briefing, we were just starting a short tour of the different departments; I received a phone call for him. Apparently he had not charged his mobile phone or so.”

  “And who called?”

  “Iveta, Ian's PA. She said that Ian had forgotten to tell him something and that he wanted to talk in person to Jonathan. Upon that call he left right away. We thought he went back to the hotel, but apparently that was not the case.”

  Vince stood up, “to end I want you to see something. It would have been part of Jonathan's tour also.”

  They went back to the corridor where Vince stopped at the elevator doors. He put his badge on the reader and typed an eight digit code. The lift went down into the cellar of the building. Pieter suspected that the buildings in Abacus were deeper under the ground than above.

  Vince noticed the look in Pieter's eyes. “From this building you literally see the tip of the iceberg. It is quite unique in Abacus. Here, in the concrete cellars, we have duplicated all systems in case something goes wrong upstairs.”

  They left the elevator and walked through a brightly lit corridor that separated an open space with glass cubicles. “The man who invented the cubicle, even in glass, must have been a socialist idiot,” Pieter thought. Vince showed him the way to a large workshop where some of the security robots stood aligned. Some of them were completely dismantled; others were connected to diagnostic equipment. It made Pieter think of a maintenance garage for high-end toys.

  He recognized one of the men as the system engineer from the farm who had been sent away by Kik.

  “Vince, that man over there, he was on the farm yesterday when it all happened.”

  “That must have been Paul. He checks and repairs, when needed, the robots on site. If they are beyond repair, than he brings them over here. Sometimes I believe he li
kes them more than his own children.”

  He called Paul who warily approached, looking suspiciously at Pieter.

  “Paul, can you explain to Pieter what you have detected in the robots?”

  The man was nervous and started to stammer a bit. “Well, somehow there has been tampered with the robots. No wonder that so many of them break down.”

  “What do you mean with tampered?” Pieter tried to help the man to organise his thoughts.

  “Well, some of them are running again on the old software. That is why they are less stable than when running on the current version ten dot three dot five.”

  “And what do you exactly mean with stable?

  “Well, we did a lot of research on how to chase away predators without also startling the cattle. Finally we decided to use high pitched tones that those predators don't really appreciate but cannot or hardly be heard by humans or cattle. You can compare it with a dog whistle. Or those ultra-sonic poles you put in the ground to get rid of moles in your garden. Although the latter never really worked properly with me. I think those moles were as insensitive to ...”

  Vince interrupted him: “stay with the story, Paul. The software?”

  “Well, we noticed that some of the robots were turned back to version six point one. That is the version of almost one year ago. It also means that someone has gained access to the automatic upload and synchronisation system. Because the diagnostic tools confirm it is the latest version, even if it isn't. Just because one of the robots had some physical damage and was brought in that we have found out. So someone is very elaborately hacking into the system and is very good at covering up his trail.”

  “But what is the difference between those two versions, apart from stability?”

  “Well,” Paul started. Pieter began to dislike the man's tic to start each sentence with well. “The artificial intelligence to recognize and interpret forms and objects from the previous version is far less developed. For instance it cannot see the difference between a zebra and a tiger.”

  “And human and tiger?” Pieter asked.

  “Well, only the first steps. With a lot of false positives and false negatives.

  “I am sure there is a full spec list of the differences between the two versions?”

  The man looked embarrassed. “Not immediately. In those early days we did not document too many things. We were programming in the field. Experimenting. But I can draft something up for you quickly. It is all in my head.”

  “Yes please. And the robots who were in the neighbourhood of Jonathan yesterday, what version did they run on?”

  “Well, those are the ones that are standing here. I have quickly rewritten the diagnostic's software and brought the robots in here. All of them had been affected by the old software.”

  “So the robot that approached me yesterday also had the old software?”

  “Yes. Actually it was that one.” He pointed at one of the robots standing with cables connected.

  “But it stopped nicely when I got straight and it recognized me as a human being.”

  “Well, you were close and the AI will have worked from that distance. But if you would have remained stooped, than the robot would have interpreted you as a threat. With unpleasant results.”

  “I still don't get it why someone is interested in defence robots.” Pieter questioned.

  Vince took the question. “It is the purpose that once they function properly, the robots will be switched from defensive to offensive. That is only a small step and the software contains all the necessary links and databases. The mechanical aspects of the robots are all tested and approved. So you can image that someone envisages an army of robots and can sell this for a lot of money.”

  Paul claimed in triumph: “we have learned our lesson. I am in the process of reprogramming them all and building into them an advanced security. They will no longer be hack-able.”

  “Not the coming days,” Pieter remarked. “Someone will break it.”

  Paul looked a bit crestfallen now that Pieter did not show any trust in his recent improvements. He was just about to explain in detail what the new security consisted of, but Vince told him to be silent. “Paul, why don't you start to work on that spec list and ensure that Pieter and I have it by tonight?”

  Paul stammered a bit more. Spitting some of the saliva that had formed small white speckles on his lower lip. “Well, well, I will.”

  Vince accompanied Pieter till the exit door. The bad weather had disappeared as suddenly as it had come. Pieter saw again people driving their segways between the buildings. He looked up and saw different cameras hanging. “How did Jonathan leave here? He had informed his driver that he was no longer needed till six o'clock.”

  Vince addressed the guard at the reception and asked the schedule of yesterday. The man swivelled the display to Vince. “It was Rob Dango who was sitting here. Let me try to reach him for you, sir.”

  Pieter was walking outside to admire the immense rainbow that seemed to bridge the whole of Abacus. The rain had darkened the streets but the sun started to shine with all of her power. Over the rain puddles the water evaporated quickly, leaving a low strain of fog. Vince joined him after he had talked to Rob.

  “According to Rob, Jonathan left in a hurry towards a car waiting at the other side of the street. It was a standard car without any specific marks.”

  Pieter pointed at the cameras covering the area. “That is good news. Those high definition cameras must have recorded that car so we can find via the registration system who made the reservation.” He was excited that some parts of the puzzle fell together and he could not wait to outdo Abdi.

  Vince pinched his flush of victory: “that exact moment the whole video surveillance system was being rebooted after a period of maintenance. There are no images.”

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