Honeypot (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 5 - Honeypot

Nicole knew what the Dark Web offered:

Disappearance - $60,000

Murder - $45,000

Beating - $3,000

Everything has a price. Baby. A shocking shopping list. Someone, somewhere willing to service.

Really, really fucking scary, right?

It changes your perspective on life. Not a hardening. A desensitising. The first time Nicole saw something from the shopping list, she threw up. The fourth time. It no longer shocked. There would always be images, trades Nicole found too hard to stomach. A visit to the bathroom relieving her of the feeling.

A hard reality. Nothing sugar-coated.

She remembered she needed to do an online food shop. How fucking convenient. Order online. Have it delivered:

Dinners for the week - $60

Miscellaneous items - $45

Bread in date - $3

How long could she carry on like this? She missed Shae. Her body ached for someone to touch her. To love her. Wasn't she lovable? With so many fucked up people in the world, couldn't someone see her for what she was? What she could be?

She opened a ready meal, placing it in the microwave. Watching as her life revolved on a turntable for four minutes.

Dolls was worried about the increase in attacks. They were no longer passive. There was a new element emerging. Do harm. Show what is possible. He didn't like the way this was going. Someone could get hurt.

Nicole turned on the TV. She rarely watched. BBC News was on. She sat looking at a less than satisfactory meal, half-listening to the latest events. A London Underground rail strike next Tuesday. Pollution increasing in the City. A major power outage at five London hospitals. Nicole sat up. No, they wouldn't target hospitals, she thought. That's just sick.

She called Dolls. He was on it already. In contact with the hospitals. Power had been restored. Back-up generators kicking in almost immediately. It didn't matter. Five minutes, five hours. Someone was playing a very dangerous game. Why?

Something was going on.

She muted the TV, watching the world without the noise. Peace. That's what she wanted. A peaceful life. What if she contacted her parents? Told them she was ready to learn the business. The world of art, its beauty, its tranquillity. She simply didn't want to feel the pain in her heart anymore. She felt the tears welling. Fucking emotions, she rationalised, bringing a hand up to brush them away.

She stood. The TV still on, a half-finished dinner on the coffee table. She needed a shower.

The water was pacifying. She felt it soak away the day. She needed release. Not yet. Not yet. Hold on. Cool sheets. The noise of the evening traffic outside lulling her into a more relaxed state. She worked herself too hard. Shae had been driven too. Both competitive. Both needing to win. Two Alphas. Two head strong personalities. Too lost in their own worlds to really see the other.

She needed release. All she could think about was Shae. She moved her hand to bring herself nearer to the edge. Fucking Shae. How could she have been so naïve? To have given someone her heart. She was so close. So sad. The release in her body did nothing. A momentary physical reflex.

To have someone touch her. Love her.

She curled up into a ball. Her favourite position since childhood. The world couldn't get to her if she was like that. Safe. Cocooned.

The tears wouldn't stop.

Ever wondered how the good guys, the Nicole's, go after the bad guys on the Internet?

In addition to security measures, like strengthening computer networks to keep the bad guys out, the good guys use a Honeypot.

Think about it. What does a honeypot do?

It attracts.

Honeypots attract the bad guys. How? Simple: don't go looking for bad guys. Create something to attract their interest – a honeypot – then wait for the bad guy to show up.

Mice to a cheese-baited trap. Flies to shit. Whatever analogy works. Bad guys are attracted to honeypots. They think it's real. The fucking irony. It's something worthy of their time. Something to get their teeth into.

The Internet of Things is here. Where everything, repeat everything is, or will be connected to the Internet. More and more home devices and systems Internet connected. Part of a web. The Web. World wide. Everywhere.

Lights, thermostats, music, home security systems. Devices that support our lives.

Run our lives.

A need, more than ever, to fight back against those who would seek to use the Internet as a weapon.

The need for Nicole and her honeypot...