Silvertroll

NAN

The cripple's name is NAN, or so he tells me.

Struggling to walk, NAN sits at the table next to Libby. He waits for me to sit, glancing at the girl every few seconds. He seems unsure, distrustful even.

"How did you know Julian?"

"I'm sorry about your loss," he says, "He was a good friend." NAN looks at Libby, looking for permission. She nods, so he continues, "I knew Julian, met him playing Hellscape. It's a game where..."

"I am familiar with what it is."

NAN nods and continues, "We became gamer buddies. They were good times." He looks down at his hands, reluctant and ashamed. "We both became script kitties. Amateur hackers. Nothing serious. We weren't malicious, nor did we steal anything. Not until..."

I wait, but I get nothing, so I prompt him, "Until you did."

"I had turned bluehat," says NAN.

"What does that mean?"

"I lost my job as an IT contractor. I was upset because I felt it was fucking bullshit. I worked my ass off for nothing. I felt used, so I turned bluehat."

"Oh right, yeah. I still don't know what that means."

"I hacked into the client's database. I wanted to fuck them up. I was gonna delete the whole goddamn thing... But then I found it."

I sit back, waiting.

NAN explains, "The client was a government-corporate project called COEUS. It developed an algorithm that mimics human intelligence perfectly. I took a copy. I didn't understand how to use it, so I shared it with Julian."

"Did you say government project?"

"Yes."

My heart starts pumping to a different rhythm, "You stole from the government and you got Julian involved." I look at Libby. She nods.

NAN goes on, "Julian knew what to do with it. We shaped the AI algorithm and taught it to trade on cryptomarkets. It made us a lot of money, like a lot."

I feel cold, frozen, stunned.

"We got a lot of attention drawn our way," NAN continues, "Investors wanted a piece of the action. We were out of our fucking league. One of these investors made us an offer. Julian refused. Turns out, they were more than just your run of the mill investor. They wouldn't accept no for an answer, so they did this to me."

Libby adds, "That's when I broke it off with Julian. I couldn't deal with this craziness."

"After Zansk attacked me, after he sent me to hospital, Julian disappeared. I've never heard from him again."

"Who attacked you?" I ask. I know the answer, I just want my brain to hear it spoken, to justify the turmoil erupting inside my chest.

"Zansk," he says. "Peter Zansk."

"The Hyperor Systems Zansk?" I try to confirm, just to be triple sure.

NAN nods.

I stand up, feeling dazed, anxiety stabbing at my knees. I storm off towards the exit, knowing exactly what to do, but I stop when I see, through the glass window, a white van pull up outside.

 It opens its doors.

Four thuggish and eclectically dressed characters climb out.