The Weakest Link

by Anthony Ivins

on the forum which was for IT experts in service delivery.

  A smile lit up Jack’s face when he read one of the posts on the forum. It was from a user called Jimmy Abbot and he had asked Peter if he was attending the IT Service Managers conference in Palo Alto on the 3rd September, two days from now. Peter had replied that he wouldn’t miss it for the world. Jack quickly searched for conferences in Palo Alto and found what he was looking for, an IT Service Managers’ conference being held at the Four Seasons Hotel. A few more clicks and Jack had registered for the conference, using another one of his fake names, Shaun Lane.

  Better make some business cards. Jack thought as he checked that Shaun Lane’s online profiles were all updated. If anybody looked him up everything needed to be perfect. Within minutes Jack had created a business card online and ordered the express delivery for next day. In the past, Jack had found that a high-quality business card often removed any doubt that a mark might have. It was almost instant credibility.

  Shaun Lane was an IT Operations Manager for a small IT support company. The company had a very basic website and listed some of the areas they specialised in. Jack had installed a special script on the home page that would cause the users internet browser to crash after a few seconds of visiting the website. This would let people see the website but not be able to browse it, perfect for his cover.

  Jack went through Shaun’s profile again, making sure he remembered every detail of the profile he had built a few years ago. He had used Shaun’s profile on a few occasions. It was solid and had, on one occasion, withstood the scrutiny of a very paranoid secretary. He went to the mirror, changed his accent slightly and started going through Shaun’s profile.

  “I am Shaun Lane. I am the IT Operations Manager for Zero Technologies. I am 30 years of age and I live in Ventura…”

  Jack repeated this a few times until he was comfortable with the accent. He then sat down at his desk and began researching Peter. He looked through his Facebook profile, noting his family and friends then switched to his Twitter profile, looking at his tweets and putting together a profile of Peter that he could use to gather the information he needed. Everything Jack researched on Peter went into his notes; where he went to school, the names of his brothers and sisters, his qualifications, his company work history and even the names of his pets. Only when Jack felt he knew Peter inside out did he shut down and get an early night’s sleep.

  The next morning the sun peeked through a tiny crack in the curtains, catching Jack directly in the eye. The light made him sit up and he looked down at his feet. Scuzzy was on his haunches, about to pounce. “Oh, no you don’t!” said Jack as he jerked his foot under the duvet, escaping a miniature mauling. Scuzzy whipped around and glared at him.

  Jack was parched. He hopped out of bed and went to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he took out a bottle of cold water and started chugging it down. He almost crushed the plastic bottle trying to force all the liquid into his body. When there was only air left, he removed the bottle from his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, letting off a small burp.

  Nothing much doing today. Jack thought as he lay relaxing in a steamy, hot bath. I should try and get some exercise, it’s been a while. He looked over at Scuzzy who was sitting on top of the toilet seat, staring back at him. “It’s all your fault, if you were a dog I would be walking you.”

  Jack got out and got dressed. He pulled on his normal Levi jeans and faded T-shirt with his favourite white Vans sneakers. He was not a suit and tie person and only donned that type of outfit when he was pretending to be a different person. Today was his unofficial day off and he would get some fresh air and free up his mind for a while. It was always good to reset occasionally, especially on a job when the stress and pressure were a lot to deal with.

  The day out in the fresh air did Jack wonders. He felt like a new person when he got back to his apartment that evening. He had spent the whole day in the park, watching moms walking their toddlers, dogs catching frisbees and people in tights jogging. It always fascinated him that people claimed to enjoy jogging. The look on their faces was always the exact opposite of pleasure - pain and suffering. Come to think of it, he had never once seen a person smiling while running.

  That night, Jack slept the best he had in weeks. The reset seemed to have worked. In the morning, he was up early, getting ready for the conference. His business cards had arrived the day before and he had taken a few out, putting them in his wallet. He went to his wardrobe and opened the doors, taking a step backwards. What would a 30-year-old IT Operations Manager from Ventura wear to a conference?

  He went through a few racks, shuffling hangers before settling on a blue golf shirt and brown Chino pants, finished off with his favourite black boots. I can leave my stubble; makes me look dashing. Jack grinned at himself in the mirror. His hair was still dark from the temporary dye he had applied the previous day. He decided to leave it in as it suited his slightly younger looking appearance.

  He looked at his watch. It was time to go. He debated with himself as to whether he should drive or catch an Uber. An Uber won in the end as it was more anonymous. His number plate could always be traced to his real name, something he didn’t want to happen. He took out his phone and ordered an Uber, waiting only three minutes before it arrived.

  The trip was only twenty-five minutes, mostly highway along the Bayshore Freeway. The hotel stood out, being the only large building in the immediate area. The conference was being held in one of the large meeting rooms and included a cocktail party around the rooftop pool. Jack walked through the lobby, almost bumping into the registration table. He gave the lady sitting behind the table his name and waited a few seconds for her to find it on her printout and then hand him his oversize name badge and lanyard.

  “Do you have a copy of the itinerary?” she asked him.

  “Not on me, I saw it online though.” Replied Jack.

  “There is one on the reverse side of your name badge.”

  Jack flipped his name badge around and saw the itinerary neatly printed.

  “Ah, thanks. That will come in handy.”

  “No problem. Enjoy the conference.” She flashed Jack a Colgate smile as he left the desk.

  The conference room was three quarters full when Jack walked in. He scanned the room to see if Peter was there before he spotted him close to the front, about three rows back. He had to sit close to Peter. Jack made his way to the front and chose the row in front of Peter, squeezing his way through until he was directly in front of Peter. As he sat down he looked around at Peter and smiled, making eye contact.

  The next three hours were excruciatingly boring for Jack. He had almost no interest in help desk software or how to increase service levels. His kept his mind busy remembering details of Peter’s profile, planning his questions and guessing what questions Peter would ask him. When the last speaker left the stage, to a sparse round of applause, Jack felt relieved. Not only from the pain of having to sit through three hours of hell but because he was anxious to get on with the reason he was there.

  The main speaker got on stage and wound up the proceedings for the day. He thanked the other speakers and sponsors and gave a summary of what to expect the following day. It sounded riveting! Jack was cracking his knuckles, please just let this be over!

  When the speaker had finished, everybody stood up and clapped dutifully. Better play the part, Jack thought as he got up and joined in the applause, clapping a lot more enthusiastically than most of the other attendees. He looked to his right, glancing behind him out of the corner of his eye, making sure that Peter could see him.

  The delegates left the conference room and made their way upstairs to the rooftop pool deck for the cocktail party. The pool deck was an amazing sight. There were food stations dotted around the pool while floating candles glimmered on the gently rippling water. There were two bars, one at each end of the pool. A Fire Poi Dancer was at one end holding two flaming hoola hoops and slowly s
liding them up and down his bare body, flames glinting off his chest.

  At the other end was a girl sitting on a barstool, a violin tucked under her chin as she plucked away at the strings with a short bow. She was making quick, jerky movements, her body twitching and shaking in time with the melody.

  Jack saw Peter standing at one of the bars ordering a drink.

  What a great conference so far.” said Jack.

  “Yes, it is.” replied Peter.

  “This venue looks amazing.”

  “Yes, they have done a good job.”

  “That fire dancer is something else. I don’t think I would ever be able to that!”

  “Me neither. In fact, I can’t even dance - two left feet.” Peter looked down at his feet.

  “I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m Shaun Lane.” Jack held out his hand.

  “No I don’t think so, I’m Peter Buchanan.”

  They shook hands and Jack continued. “Buchanan, is that Irish?”

  “No, it’s actually Scottish believe it or not. My great grandfather moved here from Edinburgh many years ago.”

  “That’s a co-incidence. My great grandfather moved here from London, probably around the same time. Maybe they came on the same boat together.”

  “Yea, could have. So, is this your first conference? I don’t think I have seen you