Alli didn’t care for how Kaihime brushed off the question, but the cyborg didn’t pay attention to her annoyance. Her focus turned to the computer. Kaihime worked her fingers across the keyboard, but even as she did so, thin strands of wiring emerged from beneath her blouse. They snaked into every access point on the computer tower. Alli felt her skin crawl at the sight of it, but she restrained herself from stepping between her new ally as she went to work.
The screen flickered across several screens as Kaihime worked. It quickly switched to a run menu as Kaihime started to input hundreds of DOS commands faster than Alli’s eyes could follow. She was no computer expert by any means, but she didn’t understand the first thing Kaihime was doing.
I’ve came this far already. I might as well trust her now.
“What are you doing? This all looks like gibberish to me.”
“I’m accessing the encryption of the files. It is set in layers, each one more complicated than the last. The keys are different for each one, and in order to access each, I have to first unlock the one before it. It is an ingenious system, designed by a master cryptographer. The first two layers are already open, the ones containing your friends’ names as well as the second layer with information on Ian and the man you knew as Smith. The third layer seems harder to access than it actual is. The key here is a complicated substitution cipher, but I am already well on my way to unlocking it. Give me just a moment longer.”
Alli didn’t even know what to say to most of that. She only knew what cryptography was from movies. She certainly didn’t have any clue on the nature of how to use it, nor of breaking codes. She didn’t have a clue what a substitution cipher was, nor did Kaihime seem to have any intention of explaining it. The mysterious woman certainly was knowledgeable, but she didn’t seem to understand most people didn’t know as much as she did. It made her talk over people easily, and did little to make Alli feel like an intellectual equal. She had to remind herself Kaihime didn’t do it on purpose. Her knowledge of human interaction was based on television and film, far from reality.
Cut her some slack and remember I’m smarter than I feel right now.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Walking Shadows Book 3 Chapter 20. Alli
Spirit Cop Headquarters seemed eerily quiet as Alli and Kaihime stepped into it. As night fell over the city, the loss of Peach and her friends seemed even more poignant as Alli walked into the empty building. She still wasn’t sure about the mysterious cyborg. She felt lost without Marilyn or Peach around to talk her questions out.
But Kaihime had revealed secrets about their attackers. Doppelganger was part of a far larger conspiracy and they would have to do something to stop GENESIS from bringing to fruition everything Kaihime claimed they had planned.
Alli walked her new ally up the stairs to the secondary computer Ian and Peach had used to try and unlock the files he stole when he first escaped GENESIS. Alli didn’t know how Kaihime planned to access them, but a cyborg certainly seemed like a go-to source for computer expertise.
“Are you sure we can’t take this to F.O.R.C.E.?” she asked as she pointed the desktop out to Kaihime.
“I am sure. The Court of Shadows have a long reach. I cannot be sure they do not already have agents in the Federally Organized Response for Critical Engagements. If they do, they could hide GENESIS long before they could be stopped. Our only hope is to work against them ourselves and for that we will need the assistance of others.”
“And you think the hard drive has more names on it. How have GENESIS not accessed those names?”
Kaihime stared down at the tiny flash drive extended from the computer’s USB port. “This drive does not simply contain an archive of GENESIS’ work. GENESIS may be part of a larger conspiracy, but even they don’t have the means to track a large number of metahumans and supernatural beings over the course of a city or beyond. These files were taken by them, but even they don’t have access to all of them. They only have bits and pieces of a greater set of information. The encrypted files on here are older than you think. Far older than they should be. If they are what I think they are, these files date back to before you and your friends were born.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Everyone’s name was on them but mine. If they were written before we were born, how could that be the first file open here.”
“Indeed. But that is a mystery for another time.”
But Kaihime had revealed secrets about their attackers. Doppelganger was part of a far larger conspiracy and they would have to do something to stop GENESIS from bringing to fruition everything Kaihime claimed they had planned.
Alli walked her new ally up the stairs to the secondary computer Ian and Peach had used to try and unlock the files he stole when he first escaped GENESIS. Alli didn’t know how Kaihime planned to access them, but a cyborg certainly seemed like a go-to source for computer expertise.
“Are you sure we can’t take this to F.O.R.C.E.?” she asked as she pointed the desktop out to Kaihime.
“I am sure. The Court of Shadows have a long reach. I cannot be sure they do not already have agents in the Federally Organized Response for Critical Engagements. If they do, they could hide GENESIS long before they could be stopped. Our only hope is to work against them ourselves and for that we will need the assistance of others.”
“And you think the hard drive has more names on it. How have GENESIS not accessed those names?”
Kaihime stared down at the tiny flash drive extended from the computer’s USB port. “This drive does not simply contain an archive of GENESIS’ work. GENESIS may be part of a larger conspiracy, but even they don’t have the means to track a large number of metahumans and supernatural beings over the course of a city or beyond. These files were taken by them, but even they don’t have access to all of them. They only have bits and pieces of a greater set of information. The encrypted files on here are older than you think. Far older than they should be. If they are what I think they are, these files date back to before you and your friends were born.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Everyone’s name was on them but mine. If they were written before we were born, how could that be the first file open here.”
“Indeed. But that is a mystery for another time.”
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
River City History: Duel with the Red Hawk
With speed and cunning on her side, Tomboy tracked down the Crime Crusader and Gail Porter just minutes ahead of her own father’s hit squad. Some accounts make out Charles Jackson to be a reluctant hitman at best and credit this with his daughter’s ability to get ahead of him. But Janie Jackson’s career in River City for decades after her career as Tomboy might mark a different story. Jackson never revealed the extent of her father’s association with the Red Hawk Gang, nor did she ever reveal the incriminating elements of her father’s activities for the Red Hawk.
With Tomboy’s warnings, the Crime Crusader and Gail were able to outrun the police hit squad without a gunfight. Though Jones was reluctant to trust a young girl, he knew Tomboy also offered him a chance to finally set a trap for the Red Hawk. They set out to lure the Red Hawk’s men into a false feint. Tomboy dressed in a wig, a dress and an over-sized pair of shoes to trick the gangs into thinking they were trailing Gail Porter.
At the same time, Jones and Porter used Tomboy’s knowledge of the Red Hawk’s whereabouts to confront the gang boss. No one exactly knows what happened for certain in the Red Hawk’s penthouse apartment. Porter’s news story says both men took gunshot wounds from one another, but the fight ultimately turned in Red Hawk’s favor as they both struggled to overcome the other. In the end, the Crusader perhaps only saw one way to beat the warrior known as Red Hawk. Both men tumbled from the twentieth story of the building and plummeted to an ignominious death.
With Tomboy’s warnings, the Crime Crusader and Gail were able to outrun the police hit squad without a gunfight. Though Jones was reluctant to trust a young girl, he knew Tomboy also offered him a chance to finally set a trap for the Red Hawk. They set out to lure the Red Hawk’s men into a false feint. Tomboy dressed in a wig, a dress and an over-sized pair of shoes to trick the gangs into thinking they were trailing Gail Porter.
At the same time, Jones and Porter used Tomboy’s knowledge of the Red Hawk’s whereabouts to confront the gang boss. No one exactly knows what happened for certain in the Red Hawk’s penthouse apartment. Porter’s news story says both men took gunshot wounds from one another, but the fight ultimately turned in Red Hawk’s favor as they both struggled to overcome the other. In the end, the Crusader perhaps only saw one way to beat the warrior known as Red Hawk. Both men tumbled from the twentieth story of the building and plummeted to an ignominious death.
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