^ Dedicated to my newest fan :D
-------
I quickly opened up my Ping system to try and locate the hacker’s IP, but another popup opened up on top of it which got in the way, saying “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, it’s a waste of time. After all, I’m no amateur.”
Sure enough, whoever this person was, they certainly didn’t lack talent. My normal settings just brought back my own IP address and when I used my more advanced settings I received a different address each time, and presumably none of them were the correct IP address, so I instead thought of some ways I could communicate with them. They must be here for some non-malicious reason, because my files remained untouched.
Presumably they could see everything that was happening on my screen, so if I just typed a message they could see it and reply to me, right? I decided to give that thought a try, so I opened Notepad and began to type:
“Hello? Can you read this?”
Sure enough a popup appeared alongside my Notepad window saying, “Took you long enough hun.”
“So who exactly are you?”
Another popup, “I told you already, you can call me Tempest”
“Okay then... Tempest, why have you hacked into my system?”
“I didn’t hack it, I just walked in through the door, so to speak. And I’m here to deliver a message to you on behalf of my boss.”
“Wait, what do you mean through the door? There shouldn’t be any gaps in my security, how’d you get in?”
“Secrets ;) Let’s just say it isn’t your security that let me in.”
“I can tell you aren’t going to explain anything else to me, so what’s your message Tempest?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself? I think your screen is getting a bit too full of popups, maybe you should close some? ;)”
Confused, I clicked the X on one of the older popups and simultaneously they all closed at once, leaving a larger window in their wake which had obviously just been hidden behind them, but for how long I didn’t know. It was a fairly plain; it had a black background and bold white text, there were no flashy animations, the focus was clearly on the text, centred and only a few lines long which meant that the window was only a little larger than the popups Tempest had been using.
The text read: “Hello Michael. I’ve looked into your exploits on the internet, you have considerable talent for someone your age. We noticed that you recently issued a challenge, so naturally it was necessary to confront you in a striking manner, to grab your attention. To cut a long story short, we are offering you a challenging role in one of our newest technological departments. We promise it will be unlike anything you’ve ever done.”
In the bottom right corner I saw a company logo for some company called Zerco, the name sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it, so I decided to ask Tempest. As I clicked on my open Notepad window I got a popup message from Tempest, “So, whaddaya think?”
“What exactly is this job?”
“Well, I can’t tell you that, but I think it’s fun <3”
“Right... Okay then, who are Zerco? The name sounds familiar.”
“Can’t tell you that either~~”
“Is there anything you CAN tell me?”
“Nope, not really, not until you accept our offer”
I’ll admit I was intrigued by their offer, and especially by how they got control of my system so easily, but I wasn’t just going to say yes to something I knew nothing about, so I decided I’d do a little research first, find out who Zerco actually were and if I could trust them.
“Sorry, but I’m not accepting your offer.” I typed, after some deliberation.
“What’s wrong with the offer? I thought you wanted a challenge.”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t trust you.”
“Oh. Well, if you change your mind, we’ll be watching you so just write a note. :)”
That confirmed one pressing matter in my head, if they are monitoring me that means my system is compromised. If I can’t do my research here, I’ll have to go somewhere more anonymous. After a moments debate I decided I’d head to the library and use their free computers to conduct my research. I opened the documents folder for the memory stick, removed the Tempest file from it and unplugged it, putting it in my pocket. After all, I was going to need a discrete way to store my research.
*Meanwhile*
“Sir, Tempest reports that Mike didn’t go for the offer.” Jenna announced
“Oh, that’s certainly a shame. Let’s wait and see what he does next, after all I’ll get my hands on him one way or another.”
“Yes sir. Shall I prep the team, sir?”
“Hmmm. Yes. Have them on standby. That’ll be all.”
“Yes sir.”
-----
See, I can do this whole quick release thing honest :D
Chapter 6 is already started and I have a good idea what's going to happen, but I may not finish it today, I'm going out with my girlfriend to watch the final HP movie, because it's our 2-year anniversary.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please be sure to vote and comment, it really helps boost my confidence :)
See ya next chapter folks!
YOU ARE READING
Alt Shift
Science FictionMichael Barrett thought of himself as quite an accomplished hacker and computer programmer, especially considering he was only 17 and could code circles around any other hackers he knew. He wanted a challenge. Something to really test his abilities...
