System Error- In Your Favour

by Iain Clements

  A run on the bank was in full progress, and media speculation intensified that it would soon be the end for the 125 year old institution.

  Chapter 22

  Canary Wharf, London

  It had been a sleepless night and Kate’s working day began in the office at 6am the next morning. She had been working until the early hours from home before then. Half exhausted she slumped into her executive chair at looked at the terminal screen that was still frozen in the same position it had been a few short hours ago.

  Kate really hadn’t had time to fully process the recent sequence of events she had gone through over the past few days and weeks. For the past couple of years at the bank she had put everything into her work in an attempt to break through, gather some well-deserved recognition, and possibly even that promotion she had been working towards. Kate had put everything before her work, to the sacrifice of family, friends, and the infrequent but quickly rebuffed suitors who had crossed her path whilst she focused on trying to climb the career ladder.

  Many friends had lectured her on ‘looking at the bigger picture’ and ‘finding a better work/life balance’ but for some reason that always seemed like an excuse to Kate’s ears. She was determined to show her managers at the bank that she was a top expert in her field and be rewarded as one. For several months her dream was to deliver the bank C.A.R.L, her greatest piece of work and a task that had completely dominated her life.

  Having enjoyed a few brief moments of recognition when C.A.R.L was launched Kate’s greatest desire now was to disappear back into anonymity. She was now directly reporting to the bank’s board every hour, she had no additional support apart from Alan who she had convinced to come and help out, and if she didn’t find the cause of C.A.R.Ls recent malfunctions then the board had made it very clear that she would be held responsible for some of the systems’ actions.

  Pushing the mountain of stress built up in her mind temporarily aside Kate sighed, stretched her hands, took a sip of the turgid sludge that promised to be ‘coffee fresh’ from her Styrofoam cup and resumed checking her beloved computer code looking for a clue that would finally shed light on just what was going on with C.A.R.L.

  When her phone rang just a few minutes later breaking Kate out of her concentration she sighed again. Picking up the receiver, knowing that it was likely to be a board member asking for yet another update, the only thing Kate could guarantee was that it was going to be another long day.

  Kate had only wanted a little piece of recognition, but the pressure of being expected to fix this problem was starting to really wear her down.

  It was nearly 8pm when the desperately needed breakthrough finally came. Kate gasped when she found a set of suspicious file in her beloved C.A.R.L’s system memory, but then she checked it several times before she dared believe that she might be able to be able to bring this crisis to an end.

  Since the first murmurs and panic stories regarding the bank’s survival possibility, the pressure had really increased on Kate. The senior managers at the bank realised just how powerless they were to do anything directly to solve the crisis so had moved their attention to their specialists in their teams working on the problem.

  Kate had been threatened with dismissal if she didn’t find the solution by a certain time, and conversely offered huge cash bonuses and other rewards if she was able to put things back again.

  Looking back at her screen again Kate was sure that these files were part of the issue. She certainly hadn’t put them there and at this stage she eagerly grasped the possibility of solving this mystery with both hands. Even though she couldn’t understand how these innocuous files could be directly responsible for the strange antics of C.A.R.L recently she couldn’t rule anything out.

  ‘Hey Alan!’ Kate said looking around for the surly veteran computer programmers ‘could you take a look at these files for me’.

  ‘Is it important Kate?’ Alan responded, in his classic reply style, not even turning his head to look at her.

  Kate was prepared to grab him by the collar and drag him over to see these files if he didn’t co-operate ‘I believe so’, Kate, ‘can you drop whatever you’re doing and look into it ASAP’.

  A few hours later, after both Kate and Alan had thoroughly analysed the files they were of the same opinion. Someone had been trying to control C.A.R.L remotely. They couldn’t decipher all of the data but it looked like the virus had been distributed remotely.

  ‘Have you ever seen something like this before Alan’ asked Kate as they sat, rather too closely together, slowly scrolling through the lines of code.

  ‘No, this is something very different’ replied Alan. ‘It’s going to take a long time to work out exactly what this thing is doing’.

  ‘Time is something we just don’t have Alan’, said Kate, ‘what would help speed up the analysis of the virus?’

  ‘Well’, said Alan, ‘it’d save a whole bunch of time if we could chat to the person who wrote it. In fact, if you give me a couple of hours I might even be able to work out where they are connecting into C.A.R.L from’.

  Kate thought for a moment then agreed that they should try and find the hacker if they could.

  But Kate had no idea what would happen from that point, so she picked up her phone and rang David Hopkins to bring security into this and advise on next steps.

  During their investigation of the files, Kate found the Internet Protocol (I.P) address of the computer sending remote instructions to C.A.R.L. Using a few contacts from her university days she’d been able to locate the computer’s physical address in Bangkok, Thailand.

  Chapter 23

  Canary Wharf, London

  Over the next few hours, several phone calls took place between David Hopkins and his counterpart in the Asia division of the bank. After a lot of discussion with his contact on the ground, David took a final call with several members of the Thai police, who had recently arrested the hacker group known as Cybix after receiving an anonymous tip off.

  The negotiation process took a long time, but eventually bail was granted to James, under the condition that he report to the bank upon his return to the U.K.

  Two days later James walked into the opulent bank headquarters reception after a long flight back home and asked for Kate Meer. It would be their first face to face meeting.

  Kate scanned the reception looking for her distinguished guest. She’d only seen his profile picture so far, but in the flesh she noticed that he was quite tall, probably nearly 6 feet, and had an athletic build. He was dressed in Jeans and a crumpled-looking T-Shirt, and Kate idly mused whether they were the same clothes he had been arrested in a few days back. When he looked up to meet her gaze, Kate noticed that he had piercing blue eyes and an intense expression on his face.

  They gazed at each other for a few seconds before Kate asked the policemen to take James into the meeting room she had booked. Once they had sat him down they took up positions just outside the door preventing any escape.

  After a few seconds, Kate walked into the room with two glasses of water in her hand. She placed one in front of him and said ‘Welcome back to the United Kingdom James.’ When there was no response she carried on ‘My name is Kate Meer, I’m acting head of I.T here at Global Enterprise Bank and I designed C.A.R.L.’ James’ head lifted at the mention of the computer programme, Kate wondered how much he had been told about the charges he was facing, but he didn’t respond to her.

  ‘James, I understand that I’m probably the last person you want to discuss C.A.R.L with, but the programme has really gotten out of hand and I need your help’ Kate said looking directly into James’ eyes.

  ‘Why should I help you?’ James finally asked after a significant delay during which Kate wondered whether pulling all of those strings to get him here was really worth it.

  ‘Well, if you look at the news today you’ll see that it’s real people who are suffering during this crisis James. I understand that you hate this bank, but look at the images
of elderly people lining up in the cold to get money back that they now believe isn’t safe. You can’t hurt a corporation without affecting its customers’.

  ‘You built C.A.R.L, you sort this mess out!’

  ‘We will eventually sort the problem out, but you have a chance to save us vital time James. It will also help your case a great deal to help us’.

  ‘So, if I help you shut down C.A.R.L you can get these charges dropped?’ James asked sounding slightly hopeful?

  ‘I can only promise to do my best, after all this company has a lot of influence. As you can see we were able to facilitate your transfer back to the United Kingdom without too much trouble. What I can promise is that it would be better for you to deal with the police and your charges here rather than returning to Thailand.’

  James looked at her, his eyes giving nothing away as he considered the position he was in. Despite his many years of hacking, he had never been in any sort of trouble with the police, and the raid in Thailand had certainly scared him. He was also quietly impressed with the person sat opposite who had managed to track down his location through a few discreet files he had carelessly left in the C.A.R.L system.

  At this moment in time it seemed that his only option was to co-operate, but he was also keen to get to know this woman a bit better.

  ‘Ok, let’s take a look but I’m not promising anything’ James said.

  ‘Well, let’s get cracking then’ Kate said.

  Chapter 24

  Canary Wharf, London

  A few hours later Kate showed James to a terminal and gave him limited access to review C.A.R.L’s system files. She certainly didn’t want him making any further changes to the system without her specific approval.

  During their first discussion James had talked at a high level about combining artificial intelligence and traditional virus design in the package they had sent into C.A.R.L.

  Kate had been silently making copious notes as he spoke, just interrupting with the occasional question or for further detail. However, when she heard that the virus had self-replicating capabilities and the ability to make some decisions autonomously she couldn’t help but interrupt.

  ‘How can you sit there and calmly explain this?’ Kate exclaimed violently. ‘What you’re describing sounds completely reckless and could well have led us to this current crisis!’

  ‘We appreciated that our plan would cause some disruption’ replied James

  ‘Well, that’s one way of describing things’ Kate said, ‘just look how crazy things are out there’.

  James glanced up at one of the TV screens playing the news on a continual cycle.

  ‘You can’t bring about permanent change without breaking the status quo’ he said after taking a moment to compose his argument. ‘Things will settle down, and then with companies like this incapacitated small ethical companies will be able to rise up in their place’. He looked at Kate smugly, believing that she would soon see the genius of his argument.

  Kate was very tempted to rise to the challenge, but another look at her watch, possibly the 200th time that day, forced her to take a deep sigh and focus on the matter at hand.

  ‘Well, let’s just agree to disagree for the time being. We’ve got work to do’.

  So, with James’ explaining in more detail how the virus was written the two unlikely companions began their work.

  Chapter 25

  Macedonia

  Cue to news anchor.

  ‘Tensions rose again in the former republic of Macedonia today after their monthly support payment from the World Bank was withheld for a second month running. Violent protests in the street resulted in the death of several individuals who were simply demanding food.’

  ‘The world bank has repeatedly stated that the withdrawal of support payments was not intentional and was simply the result of a computer error. A spokesman earlier today confirmed that a specialist I.T team was looking into the bug which had frozen payments to the supported state.’

  ‘A leading clergyman in the community warned of the consequences if aid payments were not soon resumed.’

  ‘They say a population is just 2 meals away from anarchy and this population has gone longer than that’.

  The World Bank has denied that the current funding delays are related to the crisis engulfing Global Enterprise Bank at present; however several experts have commented that both organisations share a common banking Information Technology platform and therefore could have related I.T issues.

  At the current G20 taking place in Washington, world leaders are currently discussing alternative ways of restoring Macdeonia’s aid payments if the World Bank’s payment issues cannot be quickly resolved.’

  ‘Our next story...’

  Chapter 26

  Canary Wharf, London

  After an unsuccessful first day of attempting to remove James’ virus Kate had reluctantly decided to move their work to the main C.A.R.L server control room. From there they should have full access to do anything they wanted to do.

  Kate and James made polite chit chat as they worked their way down the long corridor towards C.A.R.L’s core controller but Kate was quite distracted.

  ‘Whatever is the matter?’ James asked, after it became apparent that Kate wasn’t listening to anything he was telling her.

  ‘C.A.R.L contacted me last night’ she quietly replied.

  ‘What!’ James looked shocked ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean just that’, Kate replied looking him in the eye. ‘I was trying a few more things out last night after we didn’t get anywhere yesterday and suddenly these messages started popping up on my screen.’

  ‘Nonsense’ retorted James ‘we put some elements of basic artificial intelligence in the virus design but nothing that sophisticated. Perhaps the stresses of the last few days are finally getting to you’.

  Kate didn’t say anything else; she just wanted to get this job done. Her initial reaction from seeing the words appearing on her C.A.R.L programme interface was that of fascination. She had not included any aspect of direct communication in her system design, as C.A.R.L was intended purely as a decision making machine, but here it was talking to her.

  However, her initial fascination soon turned to fear when it became apparent that not only was C.A.R.L more than capable of initiating conversation, he also knew her incredibly well. James had already headed home for the evening when the first messages started appearing on the screen in front of her.

  Even with her years of I.T experience and her knowledge of artificial intelligence theory she was still reeling from the conversation.

  WHY ARE YOU SO KEEN TO SHUT ME DOWN KATE? the screen had prompted suddenly.

  ISN’T THIS WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED, RECOGNITION?

  Kate looked at the screen, unsure whether to respond to the machine. It shouldn’t be possible for it to be communicating in this way, even with the limited artificial intelligence programming she had designed for it.

  JUST TO BE RECOGNISED FOR YOUR TALENTS EH? WELL, YOU’VE CERTAINLY GOT THAT WITH ME AROUND, TURN ME OFF AND YOU’LL BE INVISIBLE AGAIN.

  JUST THINK ABOUT IT.

  The computer went dark for a few seconds, and Kate wondered if this strange address was over.

  Suddenly, one final line appeared instantaneously on the screen.

  AND OF COURSE, AS SOON AS I’M SHUTDOWN THEY’LL LOOK FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR MY WORK.

  Chapter 27

  London

  Kate had reflected on that brief conversation ever since. Was she actually enjoying the crisis at the bank on some levels? She certainly felt more valued and useful than ever before, even if it had brought significant additional stress into her life.

  Kate also began thinking about what would happen after C.A.R.L was shutdown. Most likely the bank would find someone to blame for this catastrophe, and it didn’t take a genius to realise that Kate’s and James’ names were number one and two on the list.

  Kate had always previously prided he
rself on being ethical, doing the right thing, and sticking to her principles but suddenly she realised that as soon as the C.A.R.L crisis was over her neck was going to be on the firing line. The machine needed to be stopped, but at what cost?

  Her dilemma was going to be short-lived though as the first thing that James said as he came into the office that morning was ‘I have an idea on how we can shut down your wayward programme’.

  ‘Let’s hear it’ Kate replied, looking up into his intense stare. He was quite a striking character, and Kate knew he was a similar age to her, but his gaze seemed to add years to him. As they worked together the past few days, James had given her some of his story, starting with him creating a simple website to share music all the way to him having to hide out in Thailand from impending prosecution here.

  Kate almost felt sorry for him, but his current attitude to her prevented her from developing any stronger feeling than that. James obviously hated the bank, blaming it and lots of other similar organisations for his current position in life. As an employee of the bank, Kate had no doubt that she would be considered a bad person too.

  So, why was he suddenly offering to help end this nightmare?

  The tension between them was palpable but James had explained his plan to her as they went to get morning coffee from the outrageously priced canteen. Kate was somewhat reassured that even with the financial world spinning out of control, the price of a skinny mocha was still reassuringly high.

  James’ plan was to try and input new commands directly into the main server controlling his core processor. The core processor was not designed to receive direct commands, but James believed that C.A.R.L would be more vulnerable from an attack at that point.