[ENG] Family Family

IX - Wareheim's Wonderful Wired Warehouse

The three of us lined up behind Stella, in front of the museum's reception.
- The mastermind... of the Family siblings? -
- Our fame precedes us, doesn't it, Tony Wareheim? - Stella called the receptionist by name.
- I have actually never heard of you guys - the man apologized. - And yet you somehow know my name. -
- It's okay. We are no match for Kelvin Kevin, Refractioman, Locative or other big names of superheroics - she lied.
- Real superheroes in my museum... Troy would have killed to be here now. -
- Is he the boy in that picture? - she asked, pointing at a frame hanging from the wall behind the receptionist: a young kid posing in front of a floating hat.
- Yep, that was my son, before he disappeared into nowhere a few years ago. He was a huge fan of Refractioman; he's in the picture too... invisible, though. -
- I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Wareheim - she merely said.
Stella obviously cared about everybody's safety, so I assumed she had simply chosen a very light, easy activity for our apprentices. Furthermore, she had also chosen technology, a field of expertise in which she had above average capabilities, presumably to appear as competent in front of them.
- Well... we don't usually allow guests access to our offices, so... I'll make an exception solely for the mastermind. -
- Can that guy over there come along? He and the girl are in the process of an apprenticeship. -
- I suppose I could do that - Tony nodded, then his gaze moved to the gap between me and Helen. - And you two just earned yourself a free tour of the museum! -
As we watched Larry and Stella cross the door that led to the offices upstairs, Tony pointed at a large dark curtain hanged in front of us.
- Behind that is the gallery. Have fun. -
Helen headed straight to it, and I followed her. The curtain we went beyond was used to prevent light from reaching the gallery.
- Yep, this is definitely not the place for a nyctophobe - when heard him say.
- Don't you ever turn the lights on here? -
- You'll see. -
Tony had stayed outside of the gallery, and I thought he was gonna leave us there and check the offices.
The floor lighted under our feet, creating a luminous path we could follow without the risk of bumping into something dangerous. A spotlight also turned on on our left, revealing a combat robot as tall as me.
The ringing sound of a computerized voice echoed through the hallway: - Welcome to Wareheim's Museum of Robotics, where the latest prototypes are displayed for your entertainment... -

[Larry's P.O.V.]

The only audible sound in the bare offices were the cars passing outside and the honking of horns.
Tony reached us after in the blink of an eye, then pulled out a key and allowed us to access the private area. He motioned for us to take a look at one of the computers.
After turning it on, he entered a password we couldn't see and logged in as the administrator.
- It seems fine to me - Stella murmured, confused on what the problem was.
- Just wait... -
He waited for the desktop's icons to load, then selected a text documents folder.
- Watch what happens when I open one of the files... -
After two rapid clicks, the file successfully opened without any issue.
- Now read. -
Stella put her reading glasses on and leaned towards the screen, then read aloud: - "I have encrypted all of your computer's files. But don't worry, all it takes is a quick payment to this PayPal account and all your stuff will return safe and sound to you." And there's the link to the PayPal account. -
She then turned towards me. - Larry, do you know what this is? - she asked me, as if she was my old computer science teacher.
- Sounds like a scam - I said. - Is it some type of malware doing this type of things? -
- A ransomware. It does exactly what its name suggests; it holds your files hostage in exchange for a ransom. This one is a crypto ransomware, as it encrypted individual files. Tony, is this computer still connected to the LAN? -
- I disconnected it after I found the issue. I know what a ransomware does. Y'all arrived earlier than tech support. -
- How did you get this? Did you open a suspicious email's attachment? -
He shook his head. - I didn't. And all of our computers have a constantly updated firewall and antivirus software. You can check. -
- I trust you. Have you checked the PayPal account, to try and see whose it is? -
- I did. It's mine. -
- What? - Stella's eyes widened. - That's impossible. You can't pay a ransom to yourself. Who made this virus? It has to be a prank, it can't be... - she started panicking. - Unless you made it, there's no way... -
She suddenly went quiet after a few seconds, then slowly turned towards us.
- The webcam is on... - she whispered, and I covered my face. I'm not that a fan of being seen by strangers, let alone by a random hacker.
After a while, the computer rebooted without a warning, then turned off.
- I can't turn it back on. Whoever is behind all of this is watching us. They're inside all of your computers now, and there's not much left to do - Stella tried to keep calm, as if all that didn't affect her at all. - But if you want, I can try and connect to the LAN and analyze . -
- And how? - Tony inquired, and Stella raised her jacket's left sleeve, revealing some sort of display and a keyboard installed in her lower arm.
- What the hell is that? - the inventor cried out loud, his voice a mix of curiosity and disgust.
- Give me your wi-fi's password, Tony. -