It's boring here. In the safe-house, I mean. I've just awoken from a seven hour nap, and the only thing I have here is Lunagaze, who somehow found a way into here. I absentmindedly try to pet her, and when I feel her spine rub against my hand, I know she's starved. I get up from the small sofa that someone left here, and walk into the kitchen. Looking everywhere, I find no kibble and no tuna to feed her, so I am glad when Lt. Paige knocks on the door. I rush to the mahogany door situated next to the refrigerator, and open it.
"I pulled some strings, got that game set for you. It's in the car. Need anything else?" She smiles at me.
"Some cat food for Lunagaze would be great." I let the cat jump from the refrigerator to my shoulder, where she turns herself into a weird sort of fur scarf. I chuckle at how the lieutenant reacts to this, her face contorted into an expression of confusion and surprise.
"How'd it get inside? I don't recall you bringing it here." She questions me, eyebrows raised.
"Followed us, I guess. She tapped on one of the windows and I let her in." I pet Lunagaze's head gently. "She's a new pet. Rescued, so she has no collar, and she seems starved."
"I'll go and get a collar too." Lt. pets Lunagaze's head before closing the door.
I plug the GILDA game system into the wall socket, and hear the da-ding of the system booting up. I look to the screen to see the lines of code run past each other, overlaying until a plain white screen shows up. Then, a blinking cursor appeared in the top left corner of the screen. Slowly, the following lines of Python code types across the screen.
import random
guesses_made = 0
name = raw_input('Hello! What is your name?
')
number = random.randint(1,20)
print 'Well, {0}, I am thinking of a number between 1 and 20.'.format(name)
while guesses_made < 6:
guess = int(raw_input('Take a guess: '))
guesses_made += 1
if guess < number:
print 'Your guess is too low.'
if guess > number:
print 'Your guess is too high.'
if guess == number:
break
if guess == number:
print 'Good job, {0}! You guessed my number in {1} guesses!'.format(name, guesses_made)
else:
print 'Nope. The number I was thinking of was {0}'.format(number)
And then the security setup begins by having me enter a name and a number. The game, while the original code displayed before the modified game used as a security measure is booted up says it should have a randomly generated number, is actually a password key disguised as a game. I know this, because I had a GILDA game system before my mother ran off at my young age of 12. I used to play HKRZ all the time. It taught me HyperText Markup Language, Python, and even taught me to craft my own code. It's a semi-old game. You use a keyboard that comes with the game, but can also be plugged into a computer. I made sure to grab my laptop before I came here, and I brought the keyboard that goes with HKRZ. The point of the game is mainly hacking. You use the traditional GILDA controllers to control your character, and you drag them around a "smart-city" version of Canandaigua, New York, while performing Fixer Contracts and Campaign missions. Everything can be hacked in this game. If you follow the Campaign, then everything you hack must be hacked manually. You physically have to type lines of code into a command line, and the hacking is an accurate representation of real hacking. I know, because in all my years as a computer nerd, I decided to take a chance at white-hat-hacking. I actually got better security on my laptop and cellphone doing that. It took a while to get the hang of firewall construction and even longer to find and plug all the loopholes in them. But I eventually got the hang of it. I even hacked into High-Priest Beowolf's pacemaker one time, and installed antivirus software and anti-malware software on it. Before you all freak out about how I earlier said I didn't consult with Satan, and now reveal my Wiccan faith, I would like to remind you that Wicca isn't Satanism. Wiccans don't even believe in Satan at all.
Anyway... After a half-hour playing HKRZ, I decide to work on BXML+. That stands for Binary X Markup Language. It is a binary based, HTML inspired, coding language. I have been working on it for about a year now. I've decided to finally use it for something. I'm going to create a nearly-unhackable firewall. I only get to type about this much of the template,
<BXML>log.start
<BXML>log-
<BXML>firewall.password
<BXML>password.secure.input
<BXML>{input.password} <BXML>{verify.with.BXML.server}
<BXML>password.insert.new
<BXML>{input.password}{send.password} <BXML>{delete.log.password.data}
<BXML>deletion.protocol <BXML>{incorrect.password.input.counter}
<BXML>//-->IPIC<--\\
<BXML>[IPIC > 3]{delete.all.files}
<BXML>[IPIC < 3]{print"Incorrect Password"}
before the lieutenant knocks on my door.
___________________________
"So what's that?" Lt. Paige asks, as she points to the unfinished firewall written on the interpreter FoxLunix, one that I built and still to this day am editing. I'm on version 1.0.5 already. Beta versions 0.1.1-0.9.9 was mainly just adding Python, C, C++, C#, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP to it. Alpha version 1.0.0 was a fully functioning interpreter for all those languages and BXML+.
"Firewall building." I say, rather nonchalant.
"You're good with computers?" She asks.
"Better than most. I could make a life as a white-hat, but I decided not to." I tell her. I leave out the fact that I'm more of a grey-hat and anyone who cared enough to search my Internet Protocol address, 100.160.162.43, would find that out quick. I have way to much security for a civilian of little importance, and yet I haven't committed any detectable crimes.
"BXML+... I recognize that from somewhere..." Lt. Paige looks closer to my code.
"Really? Because I invented the language. It's only been out there for about three months. Do you have any friends who code? Or..." I say, slightly worried that she'll arrest me for hacking.
"No, I think I've seen this code in an old case I never solved." Paige looks over at me. "Can I see your digital signature and compare it? Or do I need a search warrant on your computer?"
"It'd be easier to just hand it over." I get up from the sofa and grab the flash drive from my computer desk across the room. I toss the small flash drive over to Paige, and she catches it.
"Anything to hide?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I've used hacking techniques to secure all of my I.P. adresses." I say.
"Well, I suppose I can miss that while checking you out with the system." She smiles, and winks at me. Not a friendly I'll-help-you-get-away-with-this wink, but one that sends mixed messages.
Author's Note
How much are we betting Lt. Paige meant something by that wink? How much if it's just innocent?
Like how I input my own personal code? I've been working on it for years now.
As always,
Hvala.
YOU ARE READING
Clueless
ParanormalCaroline Underhill is able to see ghosts. She even exercises ghosts from time to time. Then someone starts targeting her. Will she make it out alive? Or get in even deeper crap?
