romantic subject for newlyweds. You understand?" Mick nodded, fighting a smile. "You were the only one who not only spotted the change in Bufford's speech but the flaw in Barker's fix. I need someone with that kind of intuition to analyze my findings."
"I'm not very computer literate either, Geek."
Nerdy waved that away, countering, "I can provide specific lessons on any phase of programming. Like you said, I don't always see the real world connections. You seem to grasp the things I miss."
The detective sipped his coffee thoughtfully before answering, "All right, no pun intended but if you can translate computer geek-speak into layman's English, I'll try to help you with your research."
"Great! So for your introductory seminar let me explain a little about hackers. A hacker must maintain anonymity because much of what he does is technically illegal. He desperately wants personal credit for his cleverness, at least, from other hackers. A parallel that you would probably be familiar with is a serial killer who purposely leaves clues to his crimes to show the detectives how smart he is."
"I wouldn't have thought of that comparison, but I see your point," Mick acknowledged.
"Most hackers use aliases, so other hackers will recognize and respect their presence. This guy has elevated that practice to an art form."
"Are you saying he somehow signed a false name to that altered video of Bufford's speech?"
"One of the most original ones I've ever encountered. I will show you on the computer later. For now, let me give you a verbal sketch of his masterful method. In the video where Bufford's voice and image were altered, there was a subliminal flash of fire in each pupil of the vice president's eyes."
"I didn't notice that."
"You wouldn't; almost no one would. That's why it was subliminal. The flashes were too fast for the human eye to recognize but the images registered in the subconscious. That technique has been used for decades in television commercials to enhance the viewers' enticement for a product. I had to slow the video to a frame-by-frame depiction to see those flashes clearly. Once I found the frame containing the superimposed images, I isolated and zoomed on those two flashes."
"So those flashes represented his – what would you call it – hacker name?"
"Like I said, he would be extremely offended by such a designation. No, Mick, the flashes themselves were marvelous machinations, encoded rendering of an actual word in each eye."
"And you have decoded them?" Mick asked casually. Geek looked down, frowned, and shook his head in frustration. "What's wrong?"
