New Story: Hack Part 4

Hack: Part 4

                Muto had been working for the government in Complex B for several years. His relatively large flat was basically a one room apartment. Half of the room was dedicated to several wall mounted monitors, each displaying views from a complementary security camera. Scrolling across each screen were blood pressure read outs from various public spots throughout the city. Muto was in charge of monitoring each one of the cameras and to watch for abnormally high blood pressure readings, simple tasks for a genius such as himself.

                The kid climbed the high stairs to Muto’s room. He approached a ramshackle door and knocked. He listened for Muto’s voice.

                “In” Muto said in a booming voice. He used a toggle switch to transport himself, via wheelchair, to the door. The kid walked in and greeted Muto.

                “Hey man, how are you doing?” He asked.

                “Good” said Muto.

                “Walk?” Muto asked.

                “Yeah, it took a little while. Some poor sap got eaten up by piranhas in Open Park. You should’ve seen it! Holy cow.”

                “Oh” Said Muto.

                “Here?” Muto asked.

                “I need a Banshee 7, I brought some homemade Stim with me. Hopefully we can work out a trade.” The kid proposed.

                Muto hasn’t always been like this. There was a time not too long ago when he could carry on conversations without having to speak using one word sentences. That was before a viral brothel bot fried him real bad. Muto, previously known as Steven, used to frequent virtual brothels using his trusty BCI and Vengeance laptop computer. He tried out a new site. The simulation loaded, he was in a dimly lit room. Crimson and pink drapery decorated the walls. Steven looked at himself in a mirror. He was tall, extremely muscular and very handsome, a complete opposite of his real physique. He smiled and sat down in a fuzzy chair. Within a minute, in walked 4 beautiful women. Each one had different clothes on and different hair color. He chose the tall blond with toned legs. Upon choosing her, he didn’t realize that she was viral. They went into another room with a rotating bed. She gave him the goods but sent a powerful current over his BCI, messing up his temporal lobes, which affected his speech. Some sick frigs write code for nasty viruses. The brothels have always been sketchy, but rarely do you run into a viral brothel bot.

                It may be tough to understand Muto, but its well worth the time. He’s the go to guy when it comes to computers.

                “So I have 5 USB sticks, containing about 50 programs total. That should be good enough for a Banshee 7.” He said.

                “Sure” said Muto.

                “Great, then it’s a deal,” said the kid.

                Muto cruised in his chair away from the door, the kid followed. He stopped before a filing cabinet. Opened a drawer and took out a small, matchbook sized processor, the legendary Banshee 7, the envy of many hackers. He handed it to the kid.

The kid reached into his pocket and removed the USB sticks and handed them to Muto.

                “Thanks” said the kid.

                “Welcome” said Muto.

                “So how are you doing, still working for big brother right?” The kid asked.

                “Good,” Muto said. He nodded to answer the kid’s second question.

                “While I’m here, what can you tell me about algorithms based on a horse shoe shape? This might sound friggin weird but I came across one during a session.”

                “Omega” said Muto.

                “What?” the kid asked.

“800” said Muto.

“What the frig?” the kid asked once more.

“Ugh” said Muto. He manipulated his toggle switch and moved over to his computer. He quickly typed some commands and loaded a program. A video initiated behind the kid. He quickly turned around to watch.

I large omega symbol came into focus with the number 800 below it. A voice then narrated the video slide show:

“Omega” the voice said, “has a value of 800, making it a rarely used algorithm base for computer programming. Several esoteric programs run off of the omega engine. The omega engine is code for programming using 800 as the base. For instance, 40 would have to be complementary to another binary set of 40 which would equal 800 when multiplied together.” The voice continued to narrate as the screen now displayed possible numbers that could be multiplied together to form 800. 200 and 4, 800 and 1, and so on.

The kid’s eyes doubled in size as he watched the video. His pupils grew large and his mouth was ajar.

The voice went on: “the omega engine, as previously stated, is a rarely used language for programming. The main drawback is its ability to be vulnerable to hackers.”

“Ah ha! I’ve seen enough.” Said the kid.

“See?” said Muto.

“Yeah, I get it now, thanks.” The kid said.

The kid quickly moved to the door and turned to speak as he walked. “Thanks, now I got some pieces to this friggin puzzle.” “Good” said Muto as he wheeled back over to the surveillance camera monitors.

   The kid left Muto’s flat and headed home. It was now getting close to sun set over the drab city. It would be dark before the kid gets home.