about them?”
Daniel was silent for a few seconds, considering the best way to explain the situation to his best friend.
“After we were finished with them in class, I kept working on mine.”
Wesley didn’t quite put it together how that had anything to do with being in trouble. “Hey, I’m thirsty.”
Daniel peered at him, “You’ve been playing the pyramid level in the desert is all.”
“No, really, “ Wesley said, standing up, “let’s get some drinks before you continue.”
“Alright,” Daniel said.
They returned shortly to Daniel’s room bearing large glasses of iced tea. It wasn't the caffeine hit of Wesley's usual but it was wet.
Wesley said, “You were saying something about being in trouble?”
Daniel lay on his stomach on the bed, holding his drink in front of him like a priceless chalice he had recovered from a castle.
“Have you heard about the FBI?”
Wesley laughed, “No, never heard of it!”
“You know what I mean.”
“What about it?”
“The FBI network was trashed yesterday by a virus, and they think it might have spread to all of the police stations in the States.”
“Hmm,” Wesley pondered, “I guess I should keep up with the news.”
Daniel didn’t respond, and kept quiet for a few too many seconds for Wesley’s comfort, all the while bearing a troubled, intense expression.
“Wait a second,” Wesley said, “are you trying to tell me . . . .”
Daniel gulped down the rest of his tea and then rolled over on his back on the bed. He simply said, “Yeah.”
“Wait, you’re kidding, right?”
Daniel replied in a whisper, “I wish.”
Wesley sprang to his feet, “No way! You hacked the FBI? That’s impossible!” He was beaming in the hope that Daniel was telling the truth. “No way,” he kept repeating, “No way.”
Daniel stood up and crawled into his computer chair, then said, “Look at this.”
He toggled the padd's main desktop interface. The screen came to life in a glorious splendor of chaos.
“Whoa, what’s all that?” Wesley asked.
“That’s my life experiment . . . in a nutshell.”
Wesley peered closely at the screen, trying to make sense of the random lines, boxes, and curves that did not simply flicker randomly but moved in coherent patterns. “Cool. So they’re like . . . I don’t know . . . what are they doing in there?”
“Rewriting the operating system, rebuilding the allocation tables, revising the storage partitions, rebuilding the installed software.”
“Are you serious? How?”
Daniel sat back in his chair as Wesley crowded him away to get a closer look.
“All in the name of efficiency.”
Wesley looked at him, “I can’t get anything from the computer. It’s totally wasted!”
“Now it is, but when they’re finished it will be just like new. Better than new in fact.”
“Huh?” Wesley inquired. “I don’t get it. The computer is messed up, why don’t you just restore it?”
Daniel stood so he could pace around the room while thinking. “You don’t get it? The Bots are running on both of my machines. I was using the padd to examine what had happened on the home server when they discovered the gateway port. After that, there was no getting the genie back into the bottle.”
Suddenly the screen flickered and cleared up for a few seconds before disappearing into chaos once again.
“Hey, did you see that?” Wesley yelled.
“Shhhhh! It’s late, you idiot,” Daniel said. “The Bots are almost finished.”
“So they’re rewriting everything on your computer? What for?”
Daniel explained, “Beats me. All I know is that they screw with it for a while and then take the back seat, at which point I can use it again. Only . . . .”
Wesley was stunned, “Only what?”
“The padd runs better, somehow, after they’re done. I figure they’re rewriting everything that was written by humans and making it all more efficient . . . fewer jumps, tighter loops, quicker math, condensed data.
Daniel was silent for a few seconds, considering the best way to explain the situation to his best friend.
“After we were finished with them in class, I kept working on mine.”
Wesley didn’t quite put it together how that had anything to do with being in trouble. “Hey, I’m thirsty.”
Daniel peered at him, “You’ve been playing the pyramid level in the desert is all.”
“No, really, “ Wesley said, standing up, “let’s get some drinks before you continue.”
“Alright,” Daniel said.
They returned shortly to Daniel’s room bearing large glasses of iced tea. It wasn't the caffeine hit of Wesley's usual but it was wet.
Wesley said, “You were saying something about being in trouble?”
Daniel lay on his stomach on the bed, holding his drink in front of him like a priceless chalice he had recovered from a castle.
“Have you heard about the FBI?”
Wesley laughed, “No, never heard of it!”
“You know what I mean.”
“What about it?”
“The FBI network was trashed yesterday by a virus, and they think it might have spread to all of the police stations in the States.”
“Hmm,” Wesley pondered, “I guess I should keep up with the news.”
Daniel didn’t respond, and kept quiet for a few too many seconds for Wesley’s comfort, all the while bearing a troubled, intense expression.
“Wait a second,” Wesley said, “are you trying to tell me . . . .”
Daniel gulped down the rest of his tea and then rolled over on his back on the bed. He simply said, “Yeah.”
“Wait, you’re kidding, right?”
Daniel replied in a whisper, “I wish.”
Wesley sprang to his feet, “No way! You hacked the FBI? That’s impossible!” He was beaming in the hope that Daniel was telling the truth. “No way,” he kept repeating, “No way.”
Daniel stood up and crawled into his computer chair, then said, “Look at this.”
He toggled the padd's main desktop interface. The screen came to life in a glorious splendor of chaos.
“Whoa, what’s all that?” Wesley asked.
“That’s my life experiment . . . in a nutshell.”
Wesley peered closely at the screen, trying to make sense of the random lines, boxes, and curves that did not simply flicker randomly but moved in coherent patterns. “Cool. So they’re like . . . I don’t know . . . what are they doing in there?”
“Rewriting the operating system, rebuilding the allocation tables, revising the storage partitions, rebuilding the installed software.”
“Are you serious? How?”
Daniel sat back in his chair as Wesley crowded him away to get a closer look.
“All in the name of efficiency.”
Wesley looked at him, “I can’t get anything from the computer. It’s totally wasted!”
“Now it is, but when they’re finished it will be just like new. Better than new in fact.”
“Huh?” Wesley inquired. “I don’t get it. The computer is messed up, why don’t you just restore it?”
Daniel stood so he could pace around the room while thinking. “You don’t get it? The Bots are running on both of my machines. I was using the padd to examine what had happened on the home server when they discovered the gateway port. After that, there was no getting the genie back into the bottle.”
Suddenly the screen flickered and cleared up for a few seconds before disappearing into chaos once again.
“Hey, did you see that?” Wesley yelled.
“Shhhhh! It’s late, you idiot,” Daniel said. “The Bots are almost finished.”
“So they’re rewriting everything on your computer? What for?”
Daniel explained, “Beats me. All I know is that they screw with it for a while and then take the back seat, at which point I can use it again. Only . . . .”
Wesley was stunned, “Only what?”
“The padd runs better, somehow, after they’re done. I figure they’re rewriting everything that was written by humans and making it all more efficient . . . fewer jumps, tighter loops, quicker math, condensed data.
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