CaldwellwatchedthetextmessagescrollacrossthebottomoftheARglasses.
“SorryforthedelayIranintosomeproblems.”
ItwasMeiLin.Caldwellcouldn’trespondonthemunicationschannelwithoutdrawingattentiontohimselfbuthefiguredMeiLinwouldbeabletoseehimmanipulatingtheKaiShingblueprintsontheconsoleintheRangeRover.Therewerefivetechniciansinthecontrolroom,whichlookedlikeithadamaximumcapacityofaboutthirty.Caldwellfiguredtheothertechnicianswereprobablystillouttolunchoroffduty.Manydatacentersranathinrostertosavecosts.TherewasabankofdigitalinternationalclocksalongthefrontwallabovemoredisplaysshowingthevitalsignsoftheNEXTdatacenter.
“Iknowyoucan’trespondbutmakeitsnappy.IjustrealizedthatthecentralgovernmentfacilitythatbroadcastsdigitalinformationisjustacrosstheroadintheMurraybuilding.It’sjustamatteroftimebeforetheyfiguresomebodyisbroadcastingontheirrestrictedfrequency.It’lltakethemalloftensecondstopinpointmywhereabouts.Theycanprobablyspotmefromtheirwindow.”
Caldwellresistedtheurgetorespondandallowedthemessagetoscrolloutofsight.Hewastooclose.Hewalkedtoabankofterminalsatthefrontofthecontrolroom.OneofthenameplatessaidChanMingFaiinEnglishandtraditionalChinesecharacters.CaldwelltookawildguessthatitwasthesameAhFaicollectingaparcelatreception.WhatweretheoddsontherebeingtwoAhFaisoutofthirty?Slimtonone,hefigured,althoughAhFaiwasapopularHongKongname.CaldwellsatdownatanemptyterminalasfarawayfromAhFai’sworktopaspossible,facingawayfromthewideglasswindowgivingouttothereceptionhall.TherewasanothertextmessagefromMeiLin.
“Icouldn’tcopythedatabase.Theyhavesomehowdisabledreplications.ThisisabroadcastdirectlyoutofthehacktotheKaiShingsystem.Iamstillconnectedtotheirsystem.”
Justwhattheyneeded,Caldwellthought.Threepossiblepointsoffailure.Hecouldgetcaughttrappedinthecontrolroom.KaiShingcoulddiscoverthatsomebodywasloggedintotheirbuildingdatabasesortheHongKonggovernment’sInformationServicesDepartmentcoulddiscoverMeiLinbroadcastingillegallyontheirprivatespectrum.Caldwellstartedtypingonthekeyboardoftheterminal.TheNEXTscreensaverdisappearedtorevealaloginprompt.Thesystemloggedusersoutafteraspecifiedtimeinterval.Hehadtochecktheblueprints.
“Twenty-eight,”Caldwellwhisperedintothemicrophoneembeddedintheglasseslookingaroundtoseeifhehadattractedanyone’sattention.TheARunitblinked,signalingthatitwasreceivingtheaudiosignal.Nothinghappened.
“Twenty-eight,”hewhispered,thistimealittlelouder.Stillnothing.Hecastafurtiveglancearoundthecontrolroombehind.Everythingseemedfine.
“Accessblueprint.”Nothing.
“Accessblueprinttwenty-eight.”Nothinghappened.
“Twenty-eighthfloor.”Nothing.
“Shit!”
“Accessblueprinttwenty-eight.”ThistimeCaldwellspokeinCantonese.Accessingblueprintforthetwenty-eighthfloorappearedintraditionalChinesecharacters.
Bingo.Theblueprintforthetwenty-eighthfloorslidoutofthestack,spunonitsaxisandmagnifieditselfseveraltimes.Hecouldscrollinanydirectionsimplybymovinghishead.Therewasasmallmotioninthecontrolroom.Agroupoftechnicianshadjustenteredtheroom.AhFai,thetechnicianwhohadwalkedovertothereceptionist,wasamongthem.AhWahwasnowheretobeseen.Hewasprobablystillslumpedinthetoilet.Thatwasthefourthpointoffailure.
AhFaiwasshowinghiscolleaguessomethinghehadjustreceivedinthepost.Bythewolfwhistlesingfromthebackoftheroom,itsoundedlikepornography.Caldwellturnedhisattentiontothejobathand.Theblueprintwasextremelydetailed.Caldwellcouldseeiconsanddiagramsforeverythingfromthedatacablesbeneaththeflooringandintheceilingtothedrainagesystemfortheaquariuminthehall.Theblueprintshowedathickbunchofcablesingoutoftheflooranddisappearingintoabigshadedsquareinthecorneroftheblueprint.Caldwellglancedatthecorner.TherewasasolidenclosureinthecornerwithahugeblackIBMserversittingintherewithtonsofnetworkcablesingoutoftheflooranddisappearingroundtheback.Itwasthesizeofalargerefrigerator.
Caldwellmovedhisheadforwardtogetclosertothelabelbelowthesymbolfortheserverenclosureindicatedintheblueprint.Thelabelread:NEXTInternalDirectoryServer.Bingo.CaldwellguesseditwastheserverthatheldtheusernamesandpasswordsofallNEXTemployees,theusernamesandpasswordstheyusedtologintotheirterminals.
Oneproblemthough,theIBMdidnothaveamonitorattached.Thetechnicianscouldprobablyremotelycalltheserver’ssystemupfromtheirterminals.Caldwellstoodupandwalkedtowardstheserver.ThetechnicianswerestilllookingatAhFai’spackage.Caldwellstaredattheserver.Itwasamonsterofamachine.ThegoodthingaboutthesegiganticIBMmachineswasthattheyusuallyhadasmallLCDtextscreenthatindicatedwhatmajortasksthemachinewascurrentlyperformingandthestatusofthemachine.Wherethehellwasit?AnyoneofthefourpointsoffailurecouldbeunravelingthatveryminuteandCaldwellrealizeditwasjustamatteroftimebeforethetechnicianinthewashroomcametohissenses.Heneededtogetthehelloutoftherefast.
Therewasaslidingcoveronthefrontoftheserver.CaldwellsliditopentofindayellowLCDscreen.Itread:“ServerIdle”Caldwelllookedbehindhim.AhFaiwaswalkingovertohisseat.Caldwellpretendedtobestudyingthescreensabove.AhFaistartedloggingintohisconsole.CaldwellcouldseehimlogginginbecausetheIBM’sLCDread:UsermfchanlogginginonIP:2223.2234.0.1Password:lovebobo4everAuthenticatingAuthenticated.Serveridle
“Whatdoyouthinkyouareyoudoing?”avoiceaskedjustbehindhisshoulder.
Caldwellturnedroundtoseethetechnicianwhohadunwittinglylethimintothecontrolroomjustafewminutesearlier.Hedidn’tgivethetechniciantimetoreact.Hewasalreadyheadingforthedoor.
“Stophim,”Caldwellheardthetechnicianshoutbuthewastoolate.Bythetimetheothertechniciansrealizedwhatwashappening,Caldwellwasjustafewstridesfromthedoor.Theywereupontheirfeetanyway,swivelchairsspinningrandomlyacrosstheroom.Caldwellpressedmadlyonthebuttonintherecessnexttothecontrolroomdoors.Thedoorsslidopen,surprisingatechnicianwithhishandinthebiometricpalmreader.AsCaldwellrushedtotheescalators,thealarmbellswerealreadysounding.Ontheaugmentedrealityoverlaytheblueprintforthetwenty-eighthfloorshrankandretractedbackintothestack.Thestackdisappearedinacloudofpixels.Atextmessagescrolledacrosstheblankscreen.
“IamoutofKaiShingsystem.Shithashitthefanhere.AHongKongPoliceunitvanjustpulleduptothebuilding.Getyourassdownherequick.”HadAhWahetoandsoundedthealarm?
Aseaofsilverandpurplewindbreakerscamerushingtowardstheelevators.Thedoorsopenedandclosed.Caldwellwasintheelevatoralone.Hehitthegroundfloorbutton.HewasintheNEXTTowerlobbyafewsecondslater.HongKongPoliceofficerswerealloverthelobby.Somewereswarmingintothelifts.Othersrushedpasthimintotheelevatormistakinghimforatechnician.Caldwellglancedatthelargescreenshowingthecontrolroom.Itwaspandemoniumupstairs.Securityguardshadmaterializedfromotherfloors.Guysinwindbreakerswerepointingatthelifts.Thesecurityguardinthelobbywastakingallthisinonhisbankofsecuritymonitorslikesomeoneengrossedinanactionflick.Nobodygavehimasecondglance.ThesilverandpurpleNEXTwindbreakerwasprovinguseful.
CaldwellwalkedoutofNEXTTowerintoblindingsunlight.TheRangeRoverwassittingoutthereinthefrontdrive,itsenginepurring.AtleastfourHongKongPolicevanswereparkedrightupagainsttherevolvingfrontdoor.MeiLinhadneverbeensuchawelesight.CaldwellclimbedintothepassengerseatandtheyinchedslowlyoutintoCentralafternoontraffictoavoidsuspicion.
“Didyougetit?”sheasked,glancingsidewaysathimwithaworriedlookonherface.
Caldwellwasstilltooshakentosayanything.HesimplyloggedontocyberspaceontheRangeRover’sconsoleandtypedintheIPofChanMingFai’sconsole.TheNEXTlogocameupwithaloginpromptbelowit.Caldwellwasnowoblivioustoeverythingaroundhim,includingMeiLinandtheHongKongtraffic.Hehadenteredtheself-containedworldofthehacker.Atthisprecisemoment,nothingelsemattered.Heenteredmfchanastheloginusernameandthetechnician’scornypassword:lovebobo4ever.CaldwellfoundhimselfremotelyloggedintoAhFai’sterminal.Hequicklycalledupanetworkschema.
Severaldozenputericonsfilledthescreen,alllinkedwiththingreenorredlines.ThegreenlineshefiguredweremachinesforwhichChanMingFaihadautomaticauthenticatedaccess.Hedidn’tneedausernameandapasswordtologintothose.Caldwellscrolledthroughthelonglistoficonsandfoundwhathewaslookingfor.TheNEXTdatatrafficmonitoringserver.Heclickedtheicon.Theuserinterfaceoftheremoteputerappearedinasmallwindow.Caldwellqueriedtheloggingdatabasetoreturndatatransferlogsforthepastmonth,sortedbysize.
“Shit.Iwasafraidofthat.”
“Afraidofwhat?”MeiLinasked,wonderingwhatwasgoingon.
CaldwellcontinuedtypingawayontheRangeRover’stinykeyboard.Hecreatedauseraccountononeoftheserversonthenetworkandthendeletedalllogentriesrelatingtohisintrusion.Healsodisabledloggingsothattheserverwouldn’trecordhisexit.
“ChanMingFaijusthackedhimself,”CaldwellsaidtoaperplexedMeiLinasheloggedoutoftheRangeRover’sconsole.
“Whatthehelljusthappened?”MeiLinasked,steppingonthegas.
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