by R. E. Rowe
Then the beeping abruptly stopped, and the numbers and letters disappeared. The blank screen changed from black to bright-blue. After a second, a message in bold letters appeared at the center of the tablet’s screen:
CIA - SECC
Unauthorized Access Is a Felony
Parker’s eyes went wide. “CIA? Felony? We’re so screwed.”
Jayden's heart pounded against his chest as the tablet continued making the annoying, high-pitched sounds.
He gazed at the tablet the same way he looked at Rox whenever his furry friend brought home a dead rodent.
“What’s SECC?” he asked Parker.
Parker shrugged. “No clue.”
After one final, loud noise, the tablet went silent, and the blue screen turned back to black.
A loud thump rattled the bedroom door.
Jayden and Parker jumped.
“Are you fine?” asked Rosa from the other side of the door. Rosa was born in Belize. Without asking Jayden, his parents had hired her last summer to take care of their house and watch over him when his parents traveled on business. Rosa had moved in and become part of their family soon after.
Parker frowned. “What’d she say?”
Jayden waved him off. “We’re good,” he called through the door to Rosa. “Just playing a game.”
“Fine, good. No eat in the room!” she shouted, and then walked away.
“What do you think?” Jayden whispered to Parker.
“Looks whacked,” he replied. “Breaking news, Jayden Banks gets banned from the Internet for life and won’t be allowed to drive his father’s Porsche until it becomes a classic.” Parker snickered like a five-year-old and adjusted his black ball cap. “The babes will love going out with you, Surfer Boy. I hear public transportation is considered totally current. You’ll have the babes lining up.”
“Would you shut up? So not helpful.”
Parker’s face tightened. “We need to get Nora’s help.”
Jayden’s heart thumped as though it were playing a massive metal bass riff. Annora Jameson, aka Nora, aka Zeekmo, also known as dream girl to Jayden. She was an inch taller than him with long, curly brown hair that covered a birthmark on her lower back just above her waistband. He had spotted the mark one day at school and thought it resembled a flying wasp tat.
Jayden noticed more about Nora than he wanted to admit. Especially her killer tan, though Parker said she spent most of her time online in her room behind a closed door. Parker claimed the tan was spray on, but Jayden didn’t care if it was man-made. All he knew was her bright brown eyes pulled him in like tractor beams. She was on Jayden’s dream girl list of one. Or as Rosa would say, “Las perspectivas de la lista.”
The other reason she was on his perspectivas lista: she might’ve been a talented hacker, a superior cracker that could break into almost any computer, and the next top game designer, but when it came to online shooter games, Jayden wanted her flag. That might happen too if he didn’t get so freaking nervous every time she was close.
But honestly, he realized capturing her flag probably wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She could easily out-hack Jayden and Parker without much effort. Their avatars didn’t stand a chance playing against Nora.
“Your sister would help us?” Jayden asked.
“Yep,” Parker replied.
Jayden was suddenly aware of the hot air blasting from his bedroom vent. “Seriously? Why?”
Parker stood straight and beamed. “Because we’re going to motivate her.”
Jayden’s heart lodged firmly in his throat. “Motivate . . . how?” The massive metal bass riff paused. He steadied himself.
“You'll see. Let’s roll,” Parker replied. “To my house.”
Chapter 3
Parker burst through his front door with Jayden on his heels and skidded to a stop. Jayden didn't notice until it was too late. He crashed into Parker, nearly knocking him into the next room.
Parker collected himself and stood while Jayden brushed himself off and peered over his friend’s shoulder at Parker’s parents. They had both turned away from their one-hundred-ten-inch flat screen television to peer at them over dark 3D viewing glasses.
Jayden held back the urge to laugh out loud at the glasses, which seemed two sizes too big for their faces.
But he wasn't shocked. The glasses were just like the ones his parents owned along with all the latest electronics, three-dimensional flat screens, and high-definition gadgets.
“Hi, Jayden, how are you this fine evening?” Mrs. Jameson asked. Her petite head looked besieged by frizzy brown hair.
Epic fail, he thought. If Parker’s parents knew Jayden had his dad’s prized possession, they’d tell his dad for sure. Everyone in the valley knew about his Jayden's dad's cherished red mini-tablet. It was the first thing he showed people when they came to their house.
Jayden swallowed hard. “Fine, ma’am. Thank you.” He quickly hid the seven-inch tablet in a custom pocket Rosa had sewn into the back of his white t-shirt. He wore the t-shirt under his favorite black hoody. The one with Drake’s equation printed on it in big white letters. He thought Dr. Frank Drake was seriously brilliant, like Gates and Jobs. But Drake was the scientist who’d dreamed up an equation for calculating the total number of alien civilizations living in the universe.
“And how’s that father of yours?” Mr. Jameson asked with a foghorn tone, and then shot him an artificially whitened smile.
“Good,” Jayden squeaked.
“His tablet has got to be the most unusual mini ever created—the first quantum prototype,” he added.
“I love the color,” Mrs. Jameson said softly. “Bright red like ripe cherries with gold sparkles . . . Real gold too.”
Mr. Jameson nodded. “Impressive.”
The tablet moved slightly under the back of Jayden’s sweatshirt. His heart skipped a beat as he reached around and fumbled to readjust it with his fingertips.
Mr. Jameson continued. “Personally, I thought it’d take twenty more years before quantum computing was productized.”
Parker pointed toward his bedroom. “We’re in the middle of a project, you know. We don’t have time for small talk.”
Jayden raised an eyebrow. Parker never shied away from speaking his mind.
“Your father didn’t mean to interrupt you boys,” Mrs. Jameson said with a forced smile. “Now did you, dear?”
“Not at all,” Mr. Jameson replied. “You go back to earning all that — intern loot. Testing out new games is hard work, I’m sure.” He chuckled as his gaze remained fixed on the flat screen, watching a reporter drone on about some international aid organization.
Jayden’s head swung around when he heard the reporter’s phrase, “World Corporation.” He glanced at Parker and nodded towards the television screen.
“World Corporation, the international maker of online games, is expanding their recruitment and education program,” continued the reporter. “Representatives of the company tell us they’re hiring teens, ages thirteen to seventeen. World Corp will teach them all aspects of software design to work on the next generation of the hit game Space Expeditionary Combat Command in their international development offices. Kids will be able to finish school abroad. All expenses are paid and the money earned goes straight to a parent’s bank account.
World Corporation’s recruits receive real life experiences and travel to exotic places with talented gaming development teams. . . .”
Jayden’s dad had seen a similar report a few nights back but had told Jayden to forget it. He’d said, “World Corp should stick with software development in the US.” Jayden knew the only exotic travel he would likely experience was a virtual trip to one of World Corp’s online game worlds.
As the news report continued on the television, Jayden and Parker made a beeline to Parker’s bedroom. A
“Keep Out” sign dangled on the middle of the door. Inside was a certifiable disaster area with a ripe trash dump smell. Parker
’s bed was unmade, and Jayden counted three piles of dirty clothes and two towers of books framing the computer display on his small desk. A half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the back of the desk caught his eye. Beside the PB&J was a drinking glass containing a white, thick liquid with a solid layer of grossness on top. Gag me. He guessed the milk was seriously past its “good until” date.
“Is she home?” Jayden asked.
“Yep. Let me do the talking,” Parker replied. “You just nod.”
Jayden felt his face heating up. He had been hoping to talk to Nora for a while, maybe even get some one-on-one. They left Parker’s room and tiptoed up to Nora’s closed door.
“Now what?” Jayden whispered.
Parker smiled and pounded on her door with a closed fist. “Nora, you in there? Jayden’s here to see you.”
Jayden shoved him against the door. “You’re a jerk,” he snarled.
“Not now, P-brane,” Nora yelled through the door. “Tell the string frag to vibrate out the front door.”
“Peabrain?” Jayden asked. “String frag? Vibrate?”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Never mind,” he whispered.
Jayden smirked. “Seems second grade to me.”
“That’s not what she meant,” Parker replied with major attitude.
“Oh really?” Jayden said, imitating Parker's insolence.
Parker sighed. “It was just a stupid joke. She was referring to “branes” in string theory. You know, spatially extended mathematical concepts.”
“Ahh,” Jayden muttered.
“Forget it.” Parker shoved him back, twisted the door handle, and entered Nora’s room with Jayden sauntering in behind him.
Nora sat in a swivel chair, her back to them, furiously typing on a keyboard.
Jayden tried to say hello, but his voice box seized. It was the first time he had ever seen Nora’s room. He’d expected pictures of roses and animals on the walls and lots of pink. Maybe some stuffed animals and a few boy band posters or something. Instead, waist-high stacks of computer equipment with green and red blinking lights populated most of her room.
Her bedroom wasn’t a bedroom. It was more like a computer research laboratory and computer repair shop all jammed into one ten-by-ten space. She’d surrounded herself with the latest, top-of-the-line electronic equipment. A world map covered one wall. A map of Asia covered another. At one end of her room, four flat-screen computer monitors stood side-by-side on a desk. Each screen displayed constantly-changing information.
A shiny new computer the size of a clothes hamper stood out among the stacked electronic equipment, and a warm breeze from working fans circulated the jasmine scent of Nora’s perfume around the room.
She spun around in her chair to face them, causing her long hair to become weightless for a few hundred milliseconds. Jayden felt piranhas picking at the inner lining of his stomach. Ooh la.
“Get out!” Nora thundered, glaring at Parker. “Mom!”
“Sis, wait. How’d you like to make two hundred bucks?” Parker asked.
Her eyes went wide, and so did Jayden’s.
“How?” she asked sharply.
Yeah, no kidding, right? Jayden wanted to know too, but his voice box was still offline.
“Parker’s mini is hosed. The screen looks encrypted.”
Nora batted her eyes. “So why ask me for help?”
The computer equipment hummed. Four computer displays occasionally beeped as each displayed
characters and numbers in no apparent sequence. It looked to Jayden like she might be hacking something.
Parker continued. “We need your help. Besides, you could use the cashola. Rumor has it you need more memory for your server.”
Her soft brown eyes hardened. “What kind of help?”
“Check it out.” Parker turned to Jayden and gave him a slight shove. “Show her.”
Jayden’s brain sputtered, as it usually did when he came within twenty-feet of Nora. She was his kryptonite, maybe even radioactive. Either that or Jayden was allergic to jasmine. He’d exchanged looks with Nora a couple times at school, but not much more than that. Everytime Jayden tried to work up the courage his nerves would get the better of him. He’d hesitate, and she’d disappear before he could think straight.
“Surfer Boy?” she asked, then turned to Parker and shot him with her laser sight eyes.
Jayden was amazed that she even remembered him. Gulp. His voice box struggled to reboot.
Parker cracked his knuckles. “This is Jayden, remember?”
Nora gave her computer displays a quick glance as if to check the temperature of a turkey cooking in an oven. “Killgeek, right?” she asked, turning her attention to Jayden.
Parker nodded.
Jayden shifted his gaze away from Nora, trying to act nonchalant. He saw her staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
She squinted. “Do you surf?”
Jayden shrugged. “Occasionally, I take a board out.” Total lie. He’d never surfed in his life. Jayden was a skater. But more important than his ridiculous fib, his voice box croaked as it came back to life. He was talking to Nora. Nora! Jayden suddenly felt sure he could shred a wave or two if he tried.
Nora shot him a half-smile, and then spun back to her computer monitors. “How you doing, Killgeek?”
“Buena, ” Jayden replied, deciding to score some mucho points using the romantic Spanish phrases Rosa had taught him. Rosa had said, “Girls love Spanish. Eres muy bonita.”
Nora turned back around and stared at Jayden. It wasn’t the look he’d expected. His heart surged.
Jayden shrugged, still acting as though he could care less about anything that smelled of jasmine.
“Basically, it means I’m good. Thanks for asking.”
She stared for another moment without moving. “Right. Whatever. Let me see the mini.”
He lifted up his sweatshirt, twisted his shirt around, and pulled open the Velcro pocket.
Nora raised an eyebrow when he handed the tablet to her. “Love the cherry red. Nice machine.” She inspected the tablet. “Probably worth thirty-thousand, easy. Does it really has a quantum core processor in it?”
Jayden nodded as if everyone had one. Please be able to fix it, he thought.
“Real gold flakes too.” Nora set the tablet aside and tapped on her keyboard. “Sick.”
“See the dent,” Jayden said, his voice cracked. “Do you think I broke it?”
Nora continued typing without lifting her head. “Highly unlikely.”
“What are you doing anyway?” Jayden asked her.
“Setting up my hide-the-babe bot.”
Jayden had read some of the hacker blogs that followed Zeekmo. She’d designed an arsenal of bots ready to launch at any game, any social media account, or any computer connected to any network in the world. But the posts also said she spent most her time designing game code and hacks that were way more complicated than the ones Jayden and Parker designed. Jayden seriously wouldn’t want to make her mad. She could easily hack his personal social media game profile and turn his avatar into a skinny, mumbling llama wearing army boots with zero-level skill.
“You’re going to run a web-crawler?” Jayden asked.
She tapped the keys as if she were giving a drum solo or playing piano. “Not a web-crawler. It’s a program that automatically hides my Internet connection.”
Jayden frowned.
“Tell him why,” Parker said, his hands on his hips.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She continued pounding on the keyboard.
“Well, sort of,” Jayden said. He couldn’t stop staring at Nora's long brown hair. It draped over her shoulders and flowed down her back like a waterfall. She was tall and seriously cute. It was hard for him to comprehend that he was in the room of the hottest babe around!
Look away, he thought and forced a yawn.
Nora glanced at Jayden like he might infect her computers with his exhale. “Website webma
sters can see your IP address and easily figure out your location.”
Jayden shifted his gaze and tried to stay calm. “You mean—”
“Uh huh, easy to trace a network connection back to its physical starting point. The hide-the-babe bot conceals my location. I randomly route net traffic to ten different servers around the world. Whoever notices my Internet connection will think I’m somewhere in Spain, London, or China.”
“Who would notice?” Jayden asked.
“Never know.” She finished pounding on the computer, and then placed the broken tablet upright on a docking connector tethered to her computer. “Homeland security is everywhere these days.” She pressed the tablet’s power button.
Sure enough, the titanium tablet’s display went crazy again.
Jayden lunged toward her. “Don’t keep it running too long or—”
She held up a hand without moving her eyes away from the screen. “Shhh!” Nora looked as though she were dissecting a frog.
“But—”
“Shhh!” she hissed again.
Parker frowned and shook his head. He shoved Jayden and mouthed, “Chill.”
She kept her eyes fixed on the tablet. “You’re so cool.”
For fifty nanoseconds, Jayden thought she’d meant him. But no such luck.
The symbols on the tablet changed faster and faster. The tablet made the same loud, beeping, ear-testing tones.
“Wow!” she shouted over the racket. “Unbelievable!”
“But—” Jayden started again.
“Shhh!” she shouted. “Parker, tell Killgeek to shut up, would you?”
Parker shot Killgeek an “I said chill” glare.
“Fine. Sorry,” Jayden grumbled.
Suddenly, the CIA screen that Jayden and Parker had seen earlier reappeared. Nora screamed and clapped her hands. “That is wild.”
The tablet froze just like it had done before.
“What the heck?” Nora frowned. “OMG!”
Jayden tried to offer input again. “See how it—”
“Sssst,” she said, as though she were commanding Rox to stay. “Totally insane.”