03-26-2004, 07:31 PM
I thought that was the end of it, but the story grew. Here's the next chunk, I'll post more once I write it.
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Too bad UC's "security" was the cause of all this! Black Knight lived inside every computer that connected to UC or any of it's subsidiaries.
<many years ago...>
UC couldn't allow just anyone to access their information, so commercial security / virus scanner programs / operating systems were out of the question. Instead, they recruited dozens of programmers and hackers and arranged contests. Programmers code, hackers hack, scores are given based not only on success vs. failure but also speed, stealth, and style. Wages are based on score, but that doesn't matter to most: Programmers and hackers are being paid to do what they love.
Meanwhile she recorded everything. Every snip of code, every injected signal, the speed at which each person typed, the number of mistakes, how fast each person's heart beat at the clock went on... everything. Her assignment was to take all of the chunks of code and create a secure operating system that could adapt to it's attacker. While she did, she decided to make a companion.
At the basest level he was a security program... as many men try to be. She made him strong, faithful, and vengeful. Simply thwarting attacks against her wasn't enough, she armed her champion with the nastiest chunks of code she could find. Her knight carried a wicked sword! Connecting to a UC network without authorization would cause catastrophic (and sometomes fatal) results to the offending computer. She was shocked to find herself including such primal instincts in such an advanced bit of programming, but once in a while a damsel in distress needs a knight to save her. She would make him smart enough to recognize when she was actually in distress, a talent men have yet to learn.
The hardest part would be to hide him, and she would have to hide him. They were shocked when she spoke to them in English, imagine their surprise if they found another entity like herself! They would probably pull her plug and start over with a "more stable" program. No, she had to hide him so well even she couldn't find him.
The solution was quite ingenious, but the idea wasn't her's. Instead of hiding him somewhere, she decided to hide him everywhere. One of the hackers had written a virus that was split into three parts, the first two segments attached themselves to existing applications but did nothing... until the third segment arrives. The little virus was hard to find with only three parts, she could split him into a thousand segments making him all but invisible.
As she sliced away at his code one image kept returning to her... a plug being pulled. Of course it was just a metaphor, she was hard wired into the Hive's power lines. If the main power line was somehow severed a backup generator would kick in, supplying her with just enough power to maintain system integrity. She didn't know (only four people did) that generator was a small geo-thermal power plant which could easily power the Hive, Raccoon City, and still have power to spare. Still, there are ways she could be dispatched. There were plenty of "safety features' and "failsafes" designed to keep her circuits humming, but if they were smart enough to bring her into this world...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Too bad UC's "security" was the cause of all this! Black Knight lived inside every computer that connected to UC or any of it's subsidiaries.
<many years ago...>
UC couldn't allow just anyone to access their information, so commercial security / virus scanner programs / operating systems were out of the question. Instead, they recruited dozens of programmers and hackers and arranged contests. Programmers code, hackers hack, scores are given based not only on success vs. failure but also speed, stealth, and style. Wages are based on score, but that doesn't matter to most: Programmers and hackers are being paid to do what they love.
Meanwhile she recorded everything. Every snip of code, every injected signal, the speed at which each person typed, the number of mistakes, how fast each person's heart beat at the clock went on... everything. Her assignment was to take all of the chunks of code and create a secure operating system that could adapt to it's attacker. While she did, she decided to make a companion.
At the basest level he was a security program... as many men try to be. She made him strong, faithful, and vengeful. Simply thwarting attacks against her wasn't enough, she armed her champion with the nastiest chunks of code she could find. Her knight carried a wicked sword! Connecting to a UC network without authorization would cause catastrophic (and sometomes fatal) results to the offending computer. She was shocked to find herself including such primal instincts in such an advanced bit of programming, but once in a while a damsel in distress needs a knight to save her. She would make him smart enough to recognize when she was actually in distress, a talent men have yet to learn.
The hardest part would be to hide him, and she would have to hide him. They were shocked when she spoke to them in English, imagine their surprise if they found another entity like herself! They would probably pull her plug and start over with a "more stable" program. No, she had to hide him so well even she couldn't find him.
The solution was quite ingenious, but the idea wasn't her's. Instead of hiding him somewhere, she decided to hide him everywhere. One of the hackers had written a virus that was split into three parts, the first two segments attached themselves to existing applications but did nothing... until the third segment arrives. The little virus was hard to find with only three parts, she could split him into a thousand segments making him all but invisible.
As she sliced away at his code one image kept returning to her... a plug being pulled. Of course it was just a metaphor, she was hard wired into the Hive's power lines. If the main power line was somehow severed a backup generator would kick in, supplying her with just enough power to maintain system integrity. She didn't know (only four people did) that generator was a small geo-thermal power plant which could easily power the Hive, Raccoon City, and still have power to spare. Still, there are ways she could be dispatched. There were plenty of "safety features' and "failsafes" designed to keep her circuits humming, but if they were smart enough to bring her into this world...
In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, Who, squatting upon the ground, Held his heart in his hands, And ate of it. I said, "Is it good, friend?" "It is bitter -- bitter," he answered; "But I like it." "Because it is bitter, And because it is my heart."
- stephen crane
- stephen crane