赢下比赛
Netcat躺在长椅上注视着那架小无人机，享受着难得的阳光和丰富的无线数据流，这对她来说就像头顶的太阳一样温暖。华盛顿大学的校园里挤满了学生，他们都带有活跃的通讯链，当他们享受这罕见明亮的一天时，越来越多的短信在数据圈中传播。去你的上课；西雅图的早春并不以天气宜人而闻名，甚至教授们也可能出去玩了。她已经不再是学生了，但她在由大学生组成的人群中，在他们宝贵校园生活的小泡沫中感到非常安全。在“崩溃2.0”之前，她一直在那个泡泡里。
有时她就喜欢回到那里。
那个无害的无人机悬浮在广场上空，就像母鸡孵化小鸡一样看护着孩子们。Netcat闭上眼睛，感受阳光浸入她的骨髓，叹了口气。通过她的电子感应能力，她不需要环顾四周就能知道广场上每个人——和那个无人机——的位置。
其中一个人径直走向她，站在那里，挡住了她的阳光，她不需要任何特殊的能力就能知道那是一个人。他手无寸铁，只带有一个数据插口，他的现成品通讯链投射出一个小小的图标。好像她会对某个娇生惯养的大学男生感兴趣似的。
“走开，”她说到，懒得睁开她的眼睛。
“然后把你留在这里让兄弟会的男孩们流口水？”一个逗趣的男性声音回答道。Netcat的心跳加快了一拍，她猛地站了起来，本能——也许是她的荷尔蒙——哼了一声。
Slamm-0!俯视着她，他的方脸庞上泛起了一丝笑容。“抓到你了”，他说。
Netcat向后靠在长椅上，试图让她的心率重新得到控制。“你在这里做什么？”她问道，双手叉腰，纠结于被他目光中纯粹的男性欣赏所奉承和怀疑。他到底是怎么找到她的？他又为什么会在这里？
“只是刚好也在这个地区，”他说。“我看到了你，然后觉得我应该打个招呼。” Slamm-0!没有提到，当他听说她在西雅图时，在她今天早上登录接入点后他从FastJack那里求得了她的访问ID——该死的超链者和他们那不断变化的访问ID——然后开始追踪她。现在他只需要机灵一点，抛出正确的诱饵。不要去想她在阳光下伸展的样子，她衬衫最上面的几个纽扣没有系上，衬托出乳白色的皮肤。然后不论怎样忍住将所有那些一直在欣赏美景的白痴男孩打瞎的冲动。只是他的观点。
她扬起了一边的眉毛。
“想去吃点东西吗？午餐？”他问道。
“我已经吃过了，”她说，她的手臂仍然交叉着。“而现在我正在享受阳光。独自。”
他朝她笑了笑。她眯着眼睛看着他。他在她旁边的长椅上坐下，伸出他的长腿，随意地沿着她身后的长椅滑动他的手臂。
“嗯嗯，”他放松地说。“在这些孩子们的中心，这里是真正的私人空间。” Netcat感觉到她的嘴唇抽搐了一下，赶忙压制住笑意。
“那上面那个小家伙呢？” Slamm-0! 对仍在广场上空盘旋的小无人机点了点头。“我想它是想俯视你的衬衫。”
“那只是一架无人机，”她说，揉了揉眼睛。"如果它是，你可能是在提醒它。”
“不是我，”他说，他那张邻家男孩的脸看起来很无辜。“那是你会做的事。你不是那个骇入我的无人机，并在Jackpoint上发布照片的人吗？”
“啊……” Netcat脸红了。那是在Pistons的怂恿下进行的，虽然她比她可能应该做的多看了一点……但谁知道这个讨厌的黑客有这么好的身材？她还以为他是那种脸色苍白的沙发土豆。
“怎么，你没有骇入过那架无人机？”他这么问道，眼里闪着光。她只是摇了摇头，她的脸颊仍在燃烧。“来个小比赛怎么样？”他说。
“比赛？”她迅速问道，感谢这个话题的转变。
"是的，"他环顾着广场说。老旧的校园建筑的窗户都打开了，让新鲜的空气进来——这是一个免费换气的日子——还有阳光。他调出校园地图，建筑突然在他的AR视觉中被勾勒出来，一个有条理的ARO标志着它是化学大楼。他指着一组成对的窗户。“谁能先把无人机送进窗户。我甚至会让你使用你的网精朋友，”他说，只是有点高人一等的感觉。
可想而知，她的背脊挺起来了。“我走左边的窗户，”她这么说的同时打开了一个AR窗口，旋转一个表格来测量喷泉和西南方向的化学大楼之间的距离。“等我赢了，你要告诉全接入点，我是如何胜过你，以及我在矩阵中是如何比你强的。”
“很好，”Slamm-0!说，"然后等我让它穿过右边的窗口时，你要让我带你出去约会。一个真正的约会。"
Netcat盯着这个黑客。他们以前曾经用他们的能力彼此挑战，到目前为止，她一直处于连胜状态——但那是在矩阵，她独特的能力平衡了他的经验和技能。在这里……
“什么样的约会？”她问。“不是那种，”他板着面孔说。“那种你穿连衣裙，我穿西装，我们在一个安静的小餐馆里吃一些高价食物，同时分享我们的人生经历。”
“我不认为我想知道你的人生经历，”她嘟囔道。“你居然有一套西装吗？” 不是说他穿那条牛仔裤不好看，但她永远不会让他知道。
“我有，”他说。“我甚至以偶尔会用银器吃饭而出名。来吧，小猫。担心我会让你陷入困境吗？”他这么问道，同时玩弄着她的一卷头发。
她扬起了一条眉毛。“好像你能做到一样，”她说，直接地将他的手从她肩膀上移开。“好吧，但让我们保持使用AR。如果我们都在广场中央晕倒，那就太奇怪了。”
“太好了！”他笑着说，“预备，准备，开始！”在超链者反应过来之前，他伸手拿起太阳镜，用反射的太阳光照了照无人机。它的狗脑袋还没有复杂到可以自己做决定的地步，在面对它不认识的东西时就更不可能了。Slamm-0!知道标准的操作流程会让无人机联系它的主人——校园里某个地方的安保机师。可能是在校园安保总部。如果不骇入它，他无法知道无人机的防火墙有多强，但这里有那么多孩子，尤其主要是计算机科学系，他打赌安保机师已经加强了防火墙。不然就是冒着让他们的无人机装饰整个校园的寝室的风险。如果他想打败“猫”——上帝啊，他必须尽快行动。这意味着使用欺骗，而不是骇入。即时骇入有可能触发安保警报。欺骗有利于快速行动。但他需要安保机师的访问ID才能让欺骗发挥作用。而这需要追踪从无人机到操纵员的通讯线路。
他打开了一个AR窗口，棱角分明的角落与广场上漂亮的喷泉形成了鲜明对比。他让代码在他的嗅探程序上滚动，用意念操纵程序找到通信频道。在另一个窗口，他让一个代理计算出他赢得比赛所需的坐标。
Netcat对这一突然的开始感到恼火，她背对着黑客，把她的一个网精从共鸣中拽出来。当它在她的数字增强视觉中凝聚成一个闪闪发光的球，形成一个带着破碎翅膀的仙灵时，她沿着无人机的不确定感伸出手，找到了它处于静默模式的矩阵节点，在她自己的AR显示屏上添加了另一个气泡。
Slamm-0!以近乎超人的速度移动，沿着无人机的矩阵连接节点滑行，追踪它回到它的控制者。当他找到机师的节点时，分析它并捕获到他的访问ID就只是一件很简单的事了。
Netcat命令网精帮助她躲避无人机的视线，并感觉到这个小生物靠在她的肩膀上，它扩展了它的共鸣，帮助她隐匿身形。然后，她伸手去拿她的利用漏洞程式，将她的精神力量注入其中，感觉它变得更加强大。做完这些，她把注意力转移到无人机的节点上，试图冲破防火墙的厚重防护。
Slamm-0!在她身后笑着说。“这太简单了。我已经拿到了机师的访问ID。”他向无人机发出指令，用机主的身份作为发送者，要求它飞向右边打开的窗口。愚蠢的无人机被欺骗所迷惑，偏离了它的正常路径，直接飞向Slamm-0!的目标，速度虽然有点慢，但也不失为一个好方法。“现在我所要做的就是等待。也许我应该开始预订一家餐馆？你是个素食主义者，对吗？”Slamm-0!微笑着打开了第三个AR窗口，确认了他在FastJack终于给他超链者的访问ID时为针眼所做的8点钟的预订。
超链者在冲破无人机的防火墙时对他大声叫喊。Netcat不想要普通用户的访问权，她想要管理员权限。花费额外的时间是值得的，她这么想，同时忽略了她眼睛后面酝酿的头痛。终于，她发现了无人机防火墙的弱点，可以让她在不触动防火墙的情况下溜过去。她进去了。借助一个可爱的管理员密码。
“做梦吧，”她对Slamm-0!说，皱起了鼻子。“你跳过预订，开始写帖子，怎么样？‘Netcat’是一个词，没有破折号。”她伸手去拿无人机的AR控制器，把那只机械蜻蜓转向左边。
一秒钟后，她的控制器变暗了。“它对我的指令没有反应；那不是你做的，对吗？”Slamm-0!问道。
她察觉到无人机的节点空间中漂浮着“机师控制覆盖”的字样。“不，”她嘀咕道，“我想我们已经被发现了。”她看到一只灰白相间的大狗图标进入节点，估计是无人机的合法控制者。机师的嗅探程序图标还没有在他的地盘上抓到她，但她还是骂了一句。她的网精不会永远停留在这，一旦它离开，他抓到她只是时间问题。
“怎么，你触发了警报，小猫？” Slamm-0! 他一边问，一边挺起肩膀准备直接攻击防火墙，卸下了他的嗅探程序并调出他的利用漏洞程序。该死的隐匿程序，他不会在这场比赛中失败。他也不打算让那个机师攻击Netcat，因为她作为超链者的弱点会将无害的攻击程序转化为真正的伤害。
“不是我，”她咕哝道。“我认为机师已经发现了我们的小游戏。”
在其真正控制者的完全掌控之下，无人机开始向右朝着华盛顿大学安保总部的方向漂移以进行维修。“不错的尝试，伙计，”Netcat说道，一半是对Slamm-0!，一半是对机师。她伸手去获取管理员访问账户，试图删除机师的账户，把他从无人机上甩出去。
当她的尝试失败后，她呻吟了一声。安保机师已将无人机编程为不接受管理员账户的删除——这是一个标准的黑客技巧。“上帝，我讨厌有头脑的人，”她嘟囔着，看着机师打开了访问记录。她在无人机里呆的时间还不够长，那些记录还没有更新。由于他们都有管理员权限，他们陷入了僵局。
与此同时，Slamm-0!突然释放了他的利用漏洞程序来对抗防火墙。Netcat听到了无人机防火墙的尖叫声，Slamm-0!的卡通图标冲了进来。她和机师同时转头看向那个闪电般的年轻人。
“到底发生了什么？”她同时在身体上和AR中问道。那个粗壮的图标加固了自己，然后向卡通图标射击。Netcat向他露出尖牙。
“妈的，”Slamm-0!嘟囔着，躲开了机师的攻击。一群灰白相间的小狗跌跌撞撞地进入节点，一边四处游走一边试图追踪入侵者的气味。尽管他的速度很快，但Slamm0!知道机师在VR中会更快。他躲开了哈士奇尖锐牙齿的又一次扫射。由于防火墙处于警报状态，这对他来说是个坏消息——他甚至没有在AR视图中看到Netcat的图标。他确实看到了那些笨拙的小狗，因为它们开始追踪他。
“你们这些男孩每天就只是跳舞吗？” Netcat问道，努力地试着解除IC。
“抱歉了，小猫，”Slamm-0!吼道，“我只是个绅士。想让他离你远点。” 他慌张地加载了一个程序来重定向追踪，当哈士奇发动攻击时，他看到代码在他的AR视图中流淌。他感觉到，而不只是看到，他的图标变慢了。一个核打击程序。上帝啊，他讨厌这些东西。他走得更慢了，试图躲避哈士奇的另一次攻击，并再次感到他的图标更慢了。两种方式都可以，狗嘴里吐不出象牙，Slamm-0!这么想，并加载了他自己的核打击程序。小狗们紧紧咬着他的脚后跟，但随着一阵"啪"的声响，它们从节点上消失了。
“不用担心我，罗密欧先生，”Netcat说，她召唤出另一个网精，一个保护者。它在节点上迸发出来，拖着霓虹的火花，她感到自己的头痛从钝痛转为剧痛。不过，当她看到哈士奇又咬了一口Slamm-0!的图标时，这一切都是值得的。保护他，她这么说，仙灵飞到了战场上，在卡通男孩的肩膀上停了下来，专心致志地拧着它的尖嘴脸。哈士奇失去了抓地力。它的下一次扑击击中了卡通图标周围的一个闪亮光泡，Netcat听到她的小网精愤怒地喋喋不休，因为它改变了攻击方向，把伤害带到了自己身上，让Slamm-0!没有受到影响。
Slamm-0!释放了他自己的核打击程序，一个快速的硬球直接砸到了哈士奇的脸上，把它狠狠地砸翻在地。他没有那些愚蠢的校园安全版本的程序，他的是由黑客之家最好的程序员收集到的尖端软件。安保人员的图标瘫痪了……随着他的响应能力减少到零，他不再有空间来订阅无人机。他的连接中断了。
Slamm-0!搓着双手，幸灾乐祸地说。“看，这才是真正的黑客作派。现在——”
他对无人机内部系统的AR视图变黑了。他把头转过来，凝视着Netcat。她露出微笑。
“愚蠢的黑客使用他们的用户级密码，”她甜甜地说道。“真正的超链者每次都会去找管理员。这就是我甩掉你这个可爱屁股的原因。”Netcat的控制器重新上线，她将无人机重新引向化学大楼。她知道Slamm-0!有机师的访问ID，所以她改变了账户，不再接受移动指令——这是阻止他最简单的方法。当无人机接近化学大楼的窗户时，它没有受到任何干扰。她放慢了无人机的速度，在打开的右侧窗户前盘旋。“好吧，那么，我想这就是成败得失。你在使用那个机师的访问ID，对吧？太糟糕了，我改变了他的账户。”她对着Slamm-0！露出笑容，因为成功而脸颊发红。
黑客咧开嘴笑了起来。"我确实知道一个访问ID，我们的小翅膀新朋友会喜欢的。" 他执行了一个指令。"你的。"
Netcat伸手去抓她的控制器，但为时已晚。无人机冲向了另一边，冲进了打开的窗户。Slamm-0!将两只手猛地举到空中以示胜利，但喊声在他嘴边消失了。一声撞击和“呜”的巨响从打开的窗户传来，接着是尖叫声和一团病态的橙色蒸汽。
Netcat抬头盯着大楼，张大了嘴巴。“化学大楼，嗯？”
“呃……哎呀。是的。” Slamm-0!着迷地看着警报照亮了他对大楼的AR视图。几十个学生盯着飘向天空的橙色云彩。
“我们现在该走了，”Netcat说，从长椅上跳了起来。
“我跟在你后面，"他回答。当他们匆匆穿过学生的人群时，她咯咯地笑了起来。在广场的边缘，一辆西雅图公交车正驶向某个站点。只需一个简单的念头，就能触发“残疾人通行”指令，迫使无人机自驾将车门打开。Netcat在离公交车几英尺远的地方停下。
“我乘这辆车，”她说。
“今晚八点，”Slamm-0!说。“针眼。你想让我来接你，还是派一辆豪华轿车？”
“在我们做这一切的时候，你不只是在那里，还为自己骇入了一个预约！” Netcat说，然后把她的手放在臀部。“你有那么做吗？”
Slamm-0!伸出手来，扯了扯他那一头松散的黑色卷发。“真正的黑客，小猫，”他说。“别忘了穿上裙子。”
GAME SET MATCH
Netcat eyed the little drone from where she lay on the bench, soaking up the rare sunlight—and the rich wireless dataflow, which was as warming to her as the sun overhead. The UW campus was crowded with students, all of them with active commlinks, messages thickening the datasphere as they enjoyed the unusually bright day. Classes be screwed; early spring in Seattle wasn’t known for nice weather, and even the professors were probably out playing hooky. She wasn’t a student any more, but she felt safe in the throngs of college kids, in their precious little bubble of campus life. She’d been in that bubble before the Crash 2.0.
And sometimes she just liked to return to it.
The drone was harmless, floating above the plaza and watching over the kids like a hen clucking over her chicks. Netcat closed her eyes, felt the sun soak into her bones, and sighed. With her e-sense, she didn’t need to look around to know where every single person—and drone—was in the plaza.
When one of those people walked straight to her and stood there, blocking her sun, she didn’t need any special abilities to know it was a guy. Unarmed, augmented with nothing more than a datajack, his off-theshelf commlink projecting a dinky little icon. As if she’d be interested in some pampered college boy.
"Go away," she said, not bothering to open her eyes.
"And leave you here for the frat-boys to drool over?" replied an amused masculine voice. Netcat’s heartbeat kicked up a notch and she jerked up, instincts—or maybe just her hormones—humming.
Slamm-0! gazed down at her, a grin spread across his square-jawed face. "Gotcha," he said.
Netcat dropped back against the bench, trying to get her heart rate back under control. "What are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms, torn between being flattered by the pure masculine appreciation in his gaze and being suspicious. How the heck had he found her? And why was he here?
"Just in the area,” he said. “I saw you and thought I should say hi." Slamm-0! didn’t bother mentioning that when he’d heard she was in Seattle, he’d begged her access ID off FastJack after she’d logged onto Jackpoint this morning—damn technomancers and their constantly changing access IDs—and set about tracking her down. Now he just had to be clever and dangle the right bait. And not think about how she’d looked, stretched out in the sun, the top few buttons of her shirt undone, framing creamy white skin. And somehow resist the urge to strike blind all those idiot boys who’d been admiring the view. His view.
She raised one eyebrow.
"Wanna get a bite to eat? Lunch?" he asked.
"I already ate,” she said, her arms still crossed. “And now I’m enjoying the sun. Alone."
He smiled down at her. She narrowed her eyes at him. He slung himself down on the bench next to her, stretching out his long legs, casually sliding his arm along the bench back behind her.
"Uh-huh,” he said, relaxing. “Real private here in the middle of kid-central." Netcat felt her lip twitch and suppressed the grin.
"And what about that little guy up there?” Slamm-0! nodded at the little drone still hovering over the plaza. “I think it was trying to look down your shirt."
"It’s a drone,” she said, rolling her eyes. “If it was, you were probably telling it to."
"Not me,” he said, his boy-next-door face looking deceptively innocent. “That’s something you’d do. Weren’t you the one who hacked the drones in my place, and posted the photos on Jackpoint?"
"Ah …" Netcat blushed. It’d been on a dare from Pistons, although she’d done a bit more looking than she probably should’ve … but who knew the annoying hacker had such a fine body? She’d thought he’d be one of those pasty-skinned couch potatoes.
"What, you haven’t hacked the drone yet?” he asked, a gleam in his eye. She just shook her head, her cheeks still burning. “How about a little contest?" he said.
"A contest?" she asked quickly, thankful for the subject change.
"Yeah,” he said, looking around the plaza. The old campus buildings had their windows open, letting in the fresh air—it was a breather-free day—and sun. He called up the campus map, and the building was suddenly outlined in his AR vision, a neat ARO marking it as the Chemistry building. He pointed to a set of matching windows. “Whoever can get the drone into a window first. I’ll even let you use your little sprite friends," he said, just a little patronizing.
Predictably, her back went up. "I’ll take the left window,” she said, opening an AR window and spinning a form that measured the distance between the fountain and the Chemistry building to the southwest. “And when I win, you’re going to tell all of Jackpoint how I kicked your sorry ass and how I’m better than you in the Matrix."
"Right,” said Slamm-0!, “And when I get it in the right-hand window, you let me take you out on a date. A real one."
Netcat eyed the hacker. They’d pitted their abilities against each other before, and so far she’d been on a winning streak—but that was in the ‘trix, where her unique abilities balanced out his experience and skill. Out here …
"What kind of date?” she asked. “Not that kind,” he said, keeping a straight face. “The kind where you wear a dress, I wear a suit, and we eat overpriced food in a quiet little restaurant while we share our life stories."
"I don’t think I want to know your life story,” she muttered. “Do you even own a suit?" Not that he didn’t look just fine in those jeans, but she’d never let him know that.
"I do,” he said. “I’ve even been known to eat with silverware on occasion. C’mon, Kitty. Worried I’ll trounce you?" he asked, toying with a curl of her hair.
She raised one eyebrow. "As if you could,” she said, pointedly moving his hand off her shoulder. “All right, but let’s stick with AR. It would be weird if we both keeled over in the middle of the plaza."
"Great!” he said with a grin, “Ready, set, go!" Before the technomancer could react, he reached for his sunglasses and flashed the drone with a reflected sunbeam. Its little dog brain just wasn’t complex enough to make its own decision, not when faced with something it didn’t recognize. Slamm-0! knew standard operating protocols would make the drone contact its master—a security rigger somewhere on campus. Probably in the campus security headquarters. Without hacking it, he couldn’t know how strong the drone’s firewall would be, but with all the kids here, and the prime CompSci department, he bet the security riggers had beefed up the firewalls. Either that or risk having their drones decorating dorm rooms all across campus. And if he wanted to beat ‘Cat—and god, did he—he had to move fast. That meant spoofing, not hacking. Hacking on the fly risked setting off a security alert. Spoofing was good for moving fast. But he needed the security rigger’s access ID for it to work. And that required backtracking the communication line from the drone to the rigger.
He opened an AR window, the angular corners a stark contrast to the pretty fountain of the plaza. He sent the code scrolling for his sniffer, mentally manipulating the program as it found the communication channel. In another window, he tasked an agent to calculate the coordinates he’d need to win the contest.
Annoyed by the sudden start, Netcat turned her back to the hacker as she tugged one of her sprites out of the resonance. While it coalesced within her digitally augmented vision as a ball of shimmering lights forming into a tiny fairy with tattered wings, she reached out along the sense of the drone’s uncertainty and located its hidden Matrix node, adding another bubble to her own AR display.
Slamm-0! moved with almost superhuman speed, skating down the drone’s Matrix connection node by node, tracking it back to its controller. When he found it, it was a simple matter to analyze the rigger’s node, catching his access ID.
Netcat asked the little sprite to help hide her from the drone’s sight, and felt the little creature settle against her shoulder as it extended its resonance to help cloak her. Then she reached for her Exploit form, pouring her mental strength into it, feeling it grow stronger. With that done, she turned her attention to the drone’s node, pushing against the thick guard of its firewall.
Slamm-0! chuckled behind her. "This is too easy. I’ve already got the rigger’s access ID.” He sent the drone orders, using the owner’s identity as the sender, to fly into the open window on the right. Fooled by the spoofed headers, the stupid drone careened off of its normal path, flying directly for Slamm-0!’s target at an eager, if somewhat slow, pace. “Now all I’ve got to do is wait. Maybe I should start making reservations for a restaurant? You’re a vegetarian, right?" Slamm-0! smiled as he opened a third AR window, confirming the 8 o’clock reservation for the Eye of the Needle he’d made when FastJack had finally given him the technomancer’s access ID.
The technomancer growled at him as she pushed against the drone’s firewall. Netcat didn’t want normal user access, she wanted admin access. The extra time’ll be worth it, she thought, ignoring the headache brewing behind her eyes. Finally, she saw the weakness in the drone’s firewall that would allow her to slip through without affecting it. She was in. With a lovely admin passcode.
"Dream on,” she said to Slamm-0!, wrinkling her nose. “How about you skip the reservations, and start composing that post. ‘Netcat’ is one word, no dashes." She reached for the drone’s AR controls and turned the mechanical damselfly to the left.
A second later, her controls went dark. "It’s not responding to my commands; that’s not you, is it?" asked Slamm-0!
She perceived the words Rigger Control Override floating in the node space of the drone. "No,” she muttered, “I think we’ve been made." She saw an icon of a large grey and white dog enter the node, presumably the drone’s rightful controller. The rigger’s sniffing icon had not yet caught her in his territory, but she cursed anyway. Her sprite wouldn’t stay forever, and once it left, it would just be a matter of time before he spotted her.
"What, you trigger an alert, kitten?" Slamm-0! asked as he squared his shoulders for an outright attack on the firewall, unloading his own sniffer program and bringing up his exploit program. Stealth be damned, he wasn’t losing this contest. Nor was he going to let some rigger attack Netcat, not when her technomancer weaknesses would translate a harmless Attack program into real damage.
"Not me,” she muttered. “Think the rigger’s onto our little game."
The drone began drifting back to the right, toward the UW Security Headquarters for maintenance, under the complete control of the proper authorities. "Nice try, pal," Netcat said, half to Slamm-0! and half to the rigger. She reached for the admin access accounts, attempting to delete the rigger’s account and dump him from the drone.
When her attempt failed, she groaned. The security riggers had programmed the drone to not accept admin account deletions—a standard hacker trick. "God, I hate men with brains," she muttered, watching as the rigger opened the access logs. She hadn’t been in the drone long enough for those to update. With both of them having admin access, they were at a stalemate.
Slamm-0!, meanwhile, unleashed his exploit against the firewall. Netcat heard the drone’s firewall scream, and Slamm-0!’s cartoonish icon burst through. She and the rigger both turned to look at the lightninghaired youth at the same time.
"What the hell?" she asked, physically and in AR. The husky icon braced itself, then launched at the cartoon icon. Netcat bared her teeth.
"Shit," Slamm-0! muttered, dodging the rigger’s attack. A pack of little grey and white puppies tumbled into the node, rolling around as they attempted to track the intruder’s scent. As fast as he was, Slamm0! knew the rigger would be faster in VR. He dodged another swipe of the husky’s sharp teeth. With the firewall on alert, it was bad news for him—and he didn’t even see Netcat’s icon in his AR view. He did see the bumbling puppies as they began to trace him.
"You boys going to just dance all day?" Netcat asked, working to deactivate the IC.
"Sorry, kitten,” Slamm-0! growled, “I’m being a gentleman. Keeping him away from you.” He frantically loaded up a program to redirect the trace, and saw code bleed across his AR view as the husky landed an attack. He felt, more than saw, his icon slow down. A nuke program. God, he hated those. Moving slower, he attempted to dodge another attack from the husky, and again, felt his icon slow even more. Works both ways, dog-breath, Slamm-0! thought, loading his own Nuke program. The puppies were nipping at his heels, but with a little “pop" they disappeared from the node.
"Don’t worry about me, Romeo," Netcat said as she called up another sprite, a protector. It burst into being in the node, trailing neon sparks, and she felt her headache shift from dull ache to sharp pain. It was worth it, though, when she saw the husky grab another bite of Slamm-0!’s icon. Protect him, she said, and the little fairy flew into the fray, settling on the cartoon boy’s shoulder and screwing its pointed face up in concentration. The husky lost its grip. Its next lunge hit a shimmering bubble of light around the cartoon icon, and Netcat heard her tiny sprite chatter angrily as it redirected the attack, taking the damage onto itself and leaving Slamm-0! untouched.
Slamm-0! unleashed his own Nuke program, a fast hardball that flew directly at the husky’s face, slamming into him so hard the dog fell to the ground. He didn’t have some stupid campus security version of the program, his was cutting edge software gleaned from the best coders at Hacker House. The security rigger’s icon was paralyzed … and with his response reduced to zero, he had no room to subscribe to the drone. His connection fizzled out.
Slamm-0! rubbed his hands, gloating. "See, there’s a real hacker at work. Now—"
His AR view of the drone’s internal system went black. He swung his head around to glare at Netcat. She smiled.
"Silly hackers with their user level passcodes,” she said, sugar sweet. “A real techno goes for an Admin every time. That’s how I dumped your cute ass.” Netcat’s controls came back online and she re-routed the drone back towards the Chem building. She knew Slamm-0! had the rigger’s access ID, so she altered the account to not accept movement commands— the easiest way to stymie him. Nothing interfered as the drone approached the chemistry building window. She slowed the drone to hover in front of the open right-hand window. “Well, then, I think that’s game, set, and match. You were using that rigger’s access ID, weren’t you? Too bad I altered his account." She grinned at Slamm-0!, flush with success.
The hacker grinned back. "I do know one access ID our new little winged friend will like.” He executed a command. “Yours."
Netcat reached for her controls, but it was too late. The drone lurched to the side and darted into the open window. Slamm-0! thrust both hands into the air in victory, but the shout died on his lips. A crash and a loud "whump" came from the open window, followed by screams and a billowing cloud of sickly orange vapor.
Netcat stared up at the building, her mouth open. "Chemistry building, huh?"
"Er … oops. Yeah." Slamm-0! watched in fascination as alarms lit up his AR view of the building. Dozens of students stared up at the orange cloud drifting up toward the sky.
"We should go now," Netcat said, jumping up from the bench.
"Right behind you,” he replied. She giggled as they hurried through the crowd of students. At the edge of the plaza, a Seattle Public Transit bus was pulling up to a stop. It took a simple thought to trigger the “handicap access" command, forcing the drone pilot to hold the doors open. Netcat stopped a few feet away from the bus.
"That’s my ride," she said.
"Eight o’clock, tonight,” Slamm-0! said. “Eye of the Needle. You want me to pick you up, or send a limo?"
"You did not just hack yourself a reservation there while we were doing all that!” Netcat said, then put her hands on her hips. “Did you?"
Slamm-0! reached out, tugged at one loose black curl. "Real hacker, Kitty,” he said. “Don’t forget to wear a dress."