needed something to staunch the bleeding—but the wound was a through and through—a hole in and a hole out. The wound was bleeding steadily and if we didn’t get out of here soon, this kid was gonna expire.
And then I’d have Naomi to contend with. That was not how I intended on ending this little venture.
As I tried to fasten his coat around him as a bandage my hand pressed against something hard and ungiving. I pulled the coat back and found a hidden back holster around his middle containing a Fichetti Security 600. I slipped it out and checked the magazine as Kazuma’s eyelids fluttered. Fully loaded.
I nudged him and held the gun up. “Can you use this thing?”
He squinted at me and nodded. “Yeah—I can use it. My Grandfather taught me.”
Grandfather? Was that supposed to mean something? I held it out. I wasn’t surprised a Knight Errant techie boy had a weapon—I think I was just slotting him into a stereotype and suspecting he had a katana hidden somewhere. “Think you can use it now?”
He nodded and reached out with his left hand and grabbed it. “Why?”
“Because we have to get out of here, that’s why. If I understand what you’re saying, those jack-heads out there are looking to steal this server—why I don’t know—but that means they’ll be trying to bust down this door any minute and I’m not sure—”
“They’re not after this server,” Kazuma said and he cleared his throat. He also sat forward and took in a deep breath. He tried not to wince from his shoulder and I noticed he wasn’t using his right arm at all. “They found a back door I didn’t know was there—it was probably written in by the coder for this server’s original service before it was re-purposed. But they got an Agent in through that door. I’ve sent my own program after it.” He swallowed. “I’m afraid it’s trying to hack into Horizon. Baka .”
I wasn’t going to pretend I fully understood what he was saying—but I was knowledgeable enough to know that using an Agent to hack into an outfit like Horizon was gutsy. “I’m not sure how they can find a link between the two PANs—”
“Horizon owns this city block as well,” Kazuma said as he winced. He was honestly fighting to stay with me. This kid had guts, I’ll give him that. He nodded to the wall behind him. “This is part of a redundancy system—an off-line backup for Horizon’s client list. It was scheduled to be taken off-line next month and remove the node.”
There was more shouting from outside the door, and I thought I heard the siren call of a local authority posse. Great. Things were about to get heated. I looked back at Kazuma. “Are you saying there’s a way for them to hack into Horizon by using this PAN?”
Kazuma nodded. “Yes—I’m— baka —” he jerked and his eyes closed again. At the same time there was a barrage of foul language from the other side of that door.
Nuts. I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying—I was blind. If I had my commlink I could hack the shop’s security system myself—but I didn’t. I eyed the bag on the suit jacket. But if Kazuma did…
I grabbed up his bag and rummaged through it. As I suspected—inside was a Novatech comlink and a pair of gloves and shades. I pulled them out and slid the gloves on, then slid the shades on. They were blank—no image. I took them off and checked the commlink.
It was off.
I looked at Kazuma—if the link was off, how the hell was he accessing the PAN? Was my first guess that he had an internal ‘link, right? Which meant he was using his own secured PAN to chase after the hackers?
That was just stupid on several levels—having an internal ‘link nowadays—especially since the Technomancer and AI scares was just stupid. If someone listening to all the drek out there about Otaku Nightmares being Technomancers didn’t see a physical commlink they’d kill this kid. Straight up. I’d already read about too many “mistakes”
And then I’d have Naomi to contend with. That was not how I intended on ending this little venture.
As I tried to fasten his coat around him as a bandage my hand pressed against something hard and ungiving. I pulled the coat back and found a hidden back holster around his middle containing a Fichetti Security 600. I slipped it out and checked the magazine as Kazuma’s eyelids fluttered. Fully loaded.
I nudged him and held the gun up. “Can you use this thing?”
He squinted at me and nodded. “Yeah—I can use it. My Grandfather taught me.”
Grandfather? Was that supposed to mean something? I held it out. I wasn’t surprised a Knight Errant techie boy had a weapon—I think I was just slotting him into a stereotype and suspecting he had a katana hidden somewhere. “Think you can use it now?”
He nodded and reached out with his left hand and grabbed it. “Why?”
“Because we have to get out of here, that’s why. If I understand what you’re saying, those jack-heads out there are looking to steal this server—why I don’t know—but that means they’ll be trying to bust down this door any minute and I’m not sure—”
“They’re not after this server,” Kazuma said and he cleared his throat. He also sat forward and took in a deep breath. He tried not to wince from his shoulder and I noticed he wasn’t using his right arm at all. “They found a back door I didn’t know was there—it was probably written in by the coder for this server’s original service before it was re-purposed. But they got an Agent in through that door. I’ve sent my own program after it.” He swallowed. “I’m afraid it’s trying to hack into Horizon. Baka .”
I wasn’t going to pretend I fully understood what he was saying—but I was knowledgeable enough to know that using an Agent to hack into an outfit like Horizon was gutsy. “I’m not sure how they can find a link between the two PANs—”
“Horizon owns this city block as well,” Kazuma said as he winced. He was honestly fighting to stay with me. This kid had guts, I’ll give him that. He nodded to the wall behind him. “This is part of a redundancy system—an off-line backup for Horizon’s client list. It was scheduled to be taken off-line next month and remove the node.”
There was more shouting from outside the door, and I thought I heard the siren call of a local authority posse. Great. Things were about to get heated. I looked back at Kazuma. “Are you saying there’s a way for them to hack into Horizon by using this PAN?”
Kazuma nodded. “Yes—I’m— baka —” he jerked and his eyes closed again. At the same time there was a barrage of foul language from the other side of that door.
Nuts. I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying—I was blind. If I had my commlink I could hack the shop’s security system myself—but I didn’t. I eyed the bag on the suit jacket. But if Kazuma did…
I grabbed up his bag and rummaged through it. As I suspected—inside was a Novatech comlink and a pair of gloves and shades. I pulled them out and slid the gloves on, then slid the shades on. They were blank—no image. I took them off and checked the commlink.
It was off.
I looked at Kazuma—if the link was off, how the hell was he accessing the PAN? Was my first guess that he had an internal ‘link, right? Which meant he was using his own secured PAN to chase after the hackers?
That was just stupid on several levels—having an internal ‘link nowadays—especially since the Technomancer and AI scares was just stupid. If someone listening to all the drek out there about Otaku Nightmares being Technomancers didn’t see a physical commlink they’d kill this kid. Straight up. I’d already read about too many “mistakes”
Similar Books
