Cool Darkness by Matthew Carpenter Chapter 3 : The Finer Things in Life...Just Got Worse "And here is the room where the hunter/killers will be operating from, General. Each station will house one person and the collective will send necessary information to the GN-12 over there" pointed a research engineer for Cryon who was showing General Stark the first labs that would be used in Operation Revolt: a joint military/government operation headed by members of the CIA, NSA, and USAF Electronic Security Command. Behind the glassed in walls of the studio-like lab, the tour of the labs had come to an end for one of the leading officials in the implementation of the operation, as well as the leading researchers, programmers and engineers of Cryon and Nortech. General Stark standing out by being the only one not in a normal suit with visible hardware and ports. "Very impressive, Dr. Rudenburg, very impressive." spoke General Stark looking at the GN-12 comp. "Just how fast is that computer and will it give us instantaneous time to react if a priority is at hand?" "It's a 10 teraflops machine packaged in a secured housing that will be able to handle hundreds of users without slowing down a bit. The computer has been programmed specifically to handle that type of a situation, should it arise. With the latest advances made by Nortech in the human/computer interface field, the computer will be an extension of everyone working in the nets as well as off them. The operation will begin as scheduled in two weeks. You can be assured of that!" he stated with a grin as if he had sealed a done deal. "If you come this way, we can move onto the final discussion of the networking reorder program and how we will integrate each level of defense as the time arises." The glass panels they were behind separated them from the most diabolical security system ever created by man. Each station consisting of a 'coffin' where men would be connected into the computers and nets 24 hours a day kept alive with a revolutionary new life support system. The General stood there for a last glimpse of the entire project. His decorated chest rose and fell deeply with every deep breath. 'The teraflops computers. The neural links. The net connections and security systems. So it all comes down to this.' the General thought to himself giving the place a once over, then moving on without a change of facial expression. "So this project will enable us to monitor all of the Milnet sites and government linkup locations at any given time from anywhere, right?" "Exactly. The hunter/killers will be spread out over the nets and gateways, constantly monitoring and tracking any conspicuous netters or runners as the case may be. All the info will be processed here and we will be able build case files on perpetrators, or eliminate them if the risk is too high." "Sounds good to me. We're practically fightin' a war on the nets as it is with all the netrunnin' that's been goin' on in the past few years. It's about goddamn time we got the hardware on our side to stop these punks" said the General. His brow was more furrowed than before, remembering the numerous break-ins into his department alone over the past five years. "Goddamn kids" he quietly spoke to himself, looking ahead with great anticipation for this project. 'Just wait until we fry 'em' he smirked. ****************** A few days later, a bare-chested dark-skinned bodybuilder was curling more weight than normal in front of a mirror at the local gym. A 'fake' medical bandage was taped to his left shoulder, giving him an incentive to pump more iron. His biceps bulged every time the curl bar was lifted above waist level. 'I'm gonna kill Mogul, 18. Kill Mogul, 19. Kill Mogul, 20.' "Goddamn!" he said putting the bar back on its bench and flexing in front of the mirror. He looked over himself with confidence. A full four hour workout finished again. 'Lookin' hot man, lookin' hot.' A cool sweat covered most of his unclothed body. His spandex shorts noticeably wet as well. He looked over his sculptured grayish tanned muscles until his gaze made it to his shades. The dark purplish reflection in the mirror of his glasses spawned a frowning brow from Nemesis. 'More muscles, more killing power!' He picked the bar back up and curled another 10 reps, just to let the thought sink in, real deep, still counting by how many times he was going to kill Mogul. He looked back at the mirror, breathing a little heavier than before. His eyebrows now making a "V" shape in his forehead. 'That's it! It's personal now, Mogul! You're MINE!' He swiftly grabbed his bag and headed out the front of the gym into the warm summer afternoon. His workout might be over, but his adrenaline was running high at the moment. Flashbacks of Zlik and him being together for the first time. Hitting the bars, scamming information, working with Nestroth. Then the memory of the bar came back to him. He saw the pain going through his friend's face. He saw him stare death square in the face and then take his revenge before letting death take him. And then, the only thought that entered his head was of Sheila. "BITCH!" "Hey, Nemesis!" A slap on the chest broke him from his day dreaming. "Hey, man, you there today!?" asked Nebulus, catching him on his way down the street. "What do you want!? I thought you never came out in daylight?" retaliated Nemesis. "Hey, calm down. I was just coming up to see you in the gym and work out for a little while." "Then why are you in clothes that normally aren't seen outside of a club?" "OK, so I wasn't going to work out. I was going to watch you" Nebulus said with a grin. "Come on, let's get outta here. My car's right over here." They walked together towards the car, but Nemesis stopped a few steps away. The whole thing was still eating him away, and Sheila was still in his head. "I don't think so; I'm really not in the mood right now, Nebulus." "Look, I know you're upset about what happened to Zlik, we all are, but there's work to do." "I don't care about work right now, damn it! All I care about is taking Mogul down once and for all and NOW!" yelled Nemesis, becoming more furious by the moment. "Look asshole, I don't give a shit about how you feel or what you want to do! There's work to do and I need you in one piece. Now get you fuckin' ass in my goddamn car before I slice that rinkly stomach of yours open!" Nebulus retaliated pulling out a double sided rigid blade. The two just looked at each other for a second or two. Finally, Nemesis moved towards the car, shouldering into Nebulus just to get a little frustration out on his way to grabbing the door. Nebulus moved out of the way slightly, but ran the blade against Nemesis' stomach anyways. Nemesis just opened the door, loudly threw his bag in the back and slammed the door shut, letting his built-up anger go up in smoke. 'Goddamn son of a bitch' he thought to himself as Nebulus got in the car and started driving away from the curb. "Didn't hurt a bit I bet, did it?" asked a frustrated Nebulus. "No." "How many layers of that shit have you put in you now...what are you up to four, five, twenty one or so..?" kidded Nebulus. Nemesis smirked. His anger obviously starting to fade with the thought of his friend's humor. "Only four. Anymore would make it look unnatural. And it's not shit, it's reinforced synthetic skin." "Unnatural. You're only the one person in my life that I've ever seen with gray skin. And a bodybuilder at that. I thought you never put anything into your body that wouldn't help you grow muscles?" "It doesn't go into me; it's just sewn on the top five or so layers of skin." "Great. A bodybuilder that has four layers of reinforced Kevlar Type II skin sewn into his skin so he's not only stronger than everyone else, he also has skin that's tougher than an alligator's." The trip was silenced from then on by Nemesis' straight face and Nebulus' concern for what was going on with the nets. Reality came back too quickly. Turning towards the west side of the city, Nemesis could tell that they were going to Nebulus' apartment. 'What the fuck are we going to his house for?' Nemesis asked himself looking around. The surrounding buildings, annoying traffic and light smog offered no answer. Soon the apartment complex was up ahead. Solar collectors sat atop the six story box shaped complex, soaking up as much sun from the hot day as possible. An underground parking garage door swung open as the car passed the entrance into the driveway, allowing them access to Nebulus' traditional parking spot: directly opposite of the door on the far end of the garage. Nemesis grabbed his bag and the two went up to the third floor apartment, getting in with the standard code key card. The gray polymetal door swung open and the two entered the foyer. Thick light colored carpet covered the floor of the spacious apartment. Nemesis walked into the living room directly in front of him and looked out the full window at the nearby city. 'Pretty sad' he thought to himself, putting his bag down on a nearby sofa. Nebulus followed and sat down, turning the TV on. "So what the hell are we doing here anyways?" demanded Nemesis, still staring out the window. "The others will be here soon enough. Like I said, there's work to be done." "Then why don't you tell me just what the fuck is going on then, if it's so goddamn important!?" he retaliated spinning around to face Nebulus. Nebulus sat there for a moment, still watching TV. The volume was low enough it might as well have been off. The spokesperson from ESPN was finishing a remote assignment to California on the discussion of the new steroids, the ones that had no physical or mental side effects. "So, are you going to start taking the new steroids to help improve your strength? I heard they can't hurt you at all." Nebulus said still watching TV. Without receiving a reply, he turned to face Nemesis who was still waiting for an answer. "All right. Jack got word today from one of his friends in Nortech that said that Operation Revolt was scheduled to begin in two weeks." That hit a soft spot in Nemesis' pissed off mood. 'Two weeks. Holy shit. I didn't think they were going to be ready for at least a few more months.' His mood switched from anger to passive worry, convincing him that sitting down was a good idea after all. 'How the fuck did they get that far ahead without our knowledge?' Nebulus went back to watching ESPN's coverage of body building which quickly grasped part of his companion's attention as well. Within fifteen minutes, the program was nearing it's end when a message from the front panel sounded "There is a visitor at the front door." Nebulus got up and turned on the video monitor which vividly showed Slash and Jack. "Who is it?" he asked anyways monotonely. "Open up, Nebulus." came back Slash's cool voice. "Lookin' good Slash." He verified their presence with another window on the wall panel, displaying the thermal image of two people standing in the hallway outside his apartment door, taken from a sensor array strategically placed outside his room. The door opened, and the two entered the room. "Don't you wish." said Slash as she walked past Nebulus in her civilian attire: short heels, stockings that almost showed under a short summer skirt, and a tight sleeveless top. Jack followed her in, looking very concerned with the present state of affairs. Being an employee of a company that his 'computer group' was about to attack and disable, put him in a very bad, not to mention stressful position. The door slid shut behind him and locked with an advanced security lock that also included locking out telecom messages. Jack put himself in his normal office chair that sat at the near side of the couch, placed there just for him. Normally it was used as a foot rest or end table, but Jack always sat in office chairs, no matter where he was. Slash made her way to the cushy chair on the far side of the room that was within arms reach of Nemesis' side of the sofa. "I'm really sorry about Zlik, Nemesis. I want you to know that." said Slash in a very sincere tone of voice. Nemesis gave her his thank you look and quickly moved to face Nebulus who was sitting back down on the sofa to address the group in one of their most important meetings of the year. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I hope this hasn't complicated your jobs, but like I said, this is very important. Yesterday, Jack came to me with a very important message a friend at work had given to him involving Cryon's initiative, Operation Revolt. Jack, would you please brief the group on that matter?" "I received the following message from one of my contacts who keeps me informed on information with this project. As you know, we were going after the project just for the capabilities to stay online 24 hours a day. But this changes things completely. The message says: 1- OR to take over nets. Hunter/killer group to use LSS to keep punks off nets. MIL/GOV//MIL/GOV/unknown-deadly -3 The reason why this changes everything are the hunter/killer groups and the involvement of the government and military. This is one of the first times that the government and military have gone after totally securing the nets. To begin with it will be applied to the government and military nets, but I think it will eventually spread to even the simplest network interface on the local level, purposely designed to keep unauthorized personnel out, period. They are playing for keeps this time. I think the answer to the question about why has Cryon been going after other companies and mil sites is right here as well. They've been breaking into places left and right as a testing ground for what they can do and how effective their system is. We've been watching the whole damn project run it's prototypes and beta tests all along. The people that were in the tests are the ones we will be up against when the game begins, if this project succeeds in starting on time." He ran his hand through his thinning hair. His shirt collar was long unbuttoned and his tie loose. "This puts me in one awkward position, but that's why I got with you guys in the first place. This project will essentially shut down the nets from the outside, and I can't see anyway of getting around it." "Yea, but they can't KILL you. I mean, all they can do is find out who you are and where you're getting in from. That's old news I thought." attacked Slash. She knew her way around net tech and was pretty up to date on the present state of it, but what she hated the most was not being informed on what was out there and this put a noticeable hitch in her tone. "With the new system, there's no telling what they can do. They could decide not to attack you, trace you back to your deck. From there they could get every bit of information on you without you knowing it. Set bugs. Implant viruses. Build cases about you. Contact others to see if you have any weaknesses. Destroy your personal file and plant a virus to destroy every copy of it you launch. Who knows. These guys are playing hardball and they're playing for keeps!" The room was completely silent with the exception of a thousand thoughts of concern coming from each person sitting there. "Well, I guess this means that Mogul is on the back burner" sighed Nemesis, folding his hands together in his lap. A few grins appeared quickly looking to relieve the stress of the room. "We need a plan of attack to begin with" said Slash slouching back in her chair, allowing the bottoms of her stocking to show without concern. Nemesis was the first to notice and the only one to stare, unnoticed of course. His CRI's zoomed in on one area, trying to get a closer picture. 'Business is business, but pleasure is pleasure' he thought to himself. He never could grasp cyberspace that well and couldn't concentrate on it that much since he had never jacked in before and probably never would. "Fine. First: Jack, you need to keep gathering as much info as possible from the nets and from work. We need to know what we're going up against and when. Second: Slash, I need you to assess Cryon's security. Work with your security company to get into the place and see what you can dig up. Third: Nemesis, I need you to resecure all of our sites, systems, apartments and personal gear. I want to be ready for anything that hits us, either from Cryon or Mogul. Also I need you to be our street info man. There probably isn't much on the streets now, but I want to get as much of a jump on this as possible. Also, keep a close eye on Mogul. Keep them out of range, but don't overextend yourself without backup, and only under extreme circumstances. Cryon takes priority until further notice. Meanwhile, I will make contact with some of the higher ups I know and will converge all info to you all. Keep all information pertaining to this thing as secret as possible. Don't use the nets at all and make sure you're not being tracked!" The meeting soon broke up, each person going their individual way. There was nothing more that really needed to be said, or could be said. They needed more information and without it were dead in the water. Nebulus walked back to the large window in the living room and looked out at the city below. It was getting late in the afternoon, but work was just beginning. 'So they've finally come up with a way to shut us out, huh. So it's all come to this. And if ICE weren't enough. Now I have to combat another person on the net who is playing Mr. Security Officer, standing between me and my objective. That is, if they ever get into the nets! That's it. We'll have to kill the project before it even becomes operational!' *************** Five days had passed and the group was together once again, this time to compare information. If nothing else, they were all more worried and more intense with every move they made. Here was a technology and a capability so revolutionary in the field of computer security that it could wipe out the majority of cracking that goes on within any and all nets. The four sat around one of the tables in the back room at Hot Kicks, a private club owned by Nebulus on the better side of town. It was an almost middle class joint, if there was a middle class any more. If there was it was called surviving with a little more. The joint was classy. It was where all the sophisticated people went who wanted to see live nude dancing and strippers that wouldn't make you vomit. There was both male and female entertainment as well as artwork, decks, holographics, laser shows and live or holographic music. It was a hangout for artsy types, social groupies, or horny people. The room they were in was behind all the glitter and glamour of the place. It was the business area of the joint. "Well, I guess I'll be the one to start things" spoke Jack, eagerly wanting the meeting to begin so that he could get as much of a jump on the project as possible. Being the netrunner of the group, he needed as much prep time as possible, and the most info as well. "The project is still scheduled to start on time in nine days. The beta testing that has been going on over the past four months, has included over 25 businesses, 20 military installations, and 10 government sites. Successful cracks were made in all cases and successful defense routines were completed without problems. The people who will be in the nets will be on life support for one month at a time. They will be receiving fluids, muscle stimuli and other necessities while in the nets. They will be connecting into the nets through a large comp that I suspect is a supercomputer, but have not yet confirmed. With this type of computing power, they will be able to bring a lot of software into the nets with them and will be able to be monitored from outside, while still maintaining contact with the others in the nets. ICE could never touch the killing power that this could produce" Jack finished with a seriously straight face. "Cryon's physical security is very tight. My security firm is presently supporting ten positions within the company, none of which are located near this project. Security systems and facility maps are located within the main system there, and should be breakable without much trouble, once you get past the outer systems. I can arrange to have two of our special tactics team help us with the break in. They're specifically trained for this sort of thing and we have no records of them at all." "Yea, but can they be trusted?" darted Jack, obviously feeling the pressure of breaking into a place this big, and going against an operation of this magnitude. "My people are loyal to me. As long as we keep them from the truth and don't have them go all the way in, we should be ok. In any case, they are expendable if problems arise. Are there any other questions?" challenged Slash. She wouldn't have come up with the idea if she didn't think it weren't safe, and she hated people who attacked her judgments. "All right.....Nemesis" called Nebulus, keeping the meeting in order. "All security systems and meeting places have been tested, verified and put on maximum alert sequences. If anything even comes close to messin' with our stuff, it'll be eliminated. The word on the street is nothin'. This project is the quietest one I've ever heard of. Nobody's even heard of it yet. Mogul is still around, but they don't seem to be movin' anytime in the next few days. They're mainly getting contacts and settin' up sites. All personal gear has been maintained and weapon banks are in full, working condition. They'll be ready when the time comes to jump." "Last but not least, the big guys will be comin' into town on the day the project is implemented. Hotel reservations were made months ago and security teams have been assigned from the normal companies. I scrounged some extra cash in case we needed anything to further our chances of survival. This one's gonna be the big hit for this year, that's for sure" said Nebulus moving to the front of his chair and putting his arms down on the table. "What is that supposed to mean?" asked Slash. "We are going to attack this project before it can be implemented and we're gonna go into Cryon to do it." "Are you nuts!? There's no fuckin' way we can attack from within Cryon!" bitched Jack, standing up to contest the whole plan. "If we let them into the nets, we're dead. They win, we loose. They will be more powerful than ICE ever could think of being. You should know that, Jack" Nebulus retaliated disgustingly as if talking to a high school punk that never learned to think with an open mind. 'Great. He's already starting to crack and the fun hasn't even begun' thought Slash looking disappointingly at Jack. Nebulus got up from his seat and walked over to Jack, who had walked away from the table to unbutton his shirt even more. Slash and Nemesis looked at each other with that 'Oh, great' look, knowing each other couldn't wait for the action. Nebulus put his hands in his baggy pants pockets as he stood next to Jack. "Look. I know you're in a really bad position if anything goes wrong. But you're in it with us and you know you want to go through with it. Just relax and take an anti-stress pill and calm down. I need you in one piece to pull this off from the inside or we're not going anywhere." He walked away knowing that Jack wouldn't let him down. Every now and then when they did something big, Jack was the one to get nervous. He was great on the nets and could crack more than most, but his nerves were made of shit until the actual time came to work. "So where's my woman, Nebulus?" asked Nemesis jokingly. "Julia is downstairs waitin' for ya' in the dressin' room." "Julia this time, huh." Since the meeting was essentially over, Nemesis decided to go play, leaving the group behind to drink or do whatever they wanted to. "How pathetic" mumbled Slash as her combative partner left the room. He paid no attention to her comment, as usual.