The Kids Aren't Alright

Chapter 57: Finn

I don't know jack about computers.

This becomes increasingly obvious as Jasper works on the Director's keyboard, muttering what sounds like a bunch of technological nonsense under his breath. His expression is calm and focused, but I can see his fingers shaking as he types, and he keeps glancing over at the Director's door to check that it's still closed. He must be terrified right now, which makes his concentration even more impressive. 

A white box pops up on the screen. "It's asking for a password," Jasper says. "Should we try and guess it?"

"Maybe it's 'Hecate'," I suggest. 

"Or 'I hate campers six-six-six'," says Ronan. 

I shoot him a look. He shoots me one back.

"Stop that," Jasper says. His eyes are still fixed on the computer, but his mouth has twisted into a displeased frown, one that says quit goofing off before you get us kicked out of camp. "I'm just going to try to hack my way in."

"Can you really do that?" I ask. 

"Of course. You see, this is an Apple II computer, so it functions on a Unix operating system. If I'm able to use some of the Unix basic commands, I can open up the Director's private files and— bam!" A flurry of white screens explodes across the face of the computer monitor. "Piece of cake."

I let out a low whistle. "Damn, that was quick. How'd you get so good at this stuff?"

Jasper leans away from the computer, allowing the briefest of smiles to curve across his cheeks. "I've always loved computers. My dad took me to a convention when I was eight, and after that, I saved up some money to buy my first kit."

"So you built your own computer?"

"Yeah. I started checking out books on computer programming and practicing code every night. Then I joined my school's AV club. Last year, I was elected as president."

Ronan coughs the word nerd not so subtly into his elbow.

"Don't be a jerk," I tell him. "Also, don't be so loud. You'll wake up the Director."

"Fascist."

I roll my eyes. "That's really cool, Jasper. You've got some serious skills."

"Thanks, man! Have you ever heard of the Legion of Doom? They're this super talented, exclusive hacker group, and their leader is called 'Lex Luthor'— you know, like the comic supervillain. I want to be like him someday. Well, not as evil, of course, but—"

"We're getting off-topic," Ronan interrupts. "Jasper, can you do a search for the word 'monster'?"

"Why?"

"I'll explain later. Just do it."

Jasper types the word into the computer. Nothing pops up.

Ronan frowns, displeased by this dead-end. "Search for anything suspicious, then."

"Don't forget that this is the Director's computer," I point out. "I bet half the stuff on it is some kind of weird shit. I mean, just look at this one— 'Background Profiles of Camp Counselors 1980-84'. Everything here could count as suspicious."

"Then this is going to take a while. Finn, how about you look into that filing cabinet while Jasper and I search the computer?"

I shrug and maneuver my way over to the filing cabinets. The largest drawer is labeled as Camper Profiles, but I wouldn't put it past the Director to mislead us. I've watched enough action movies to know that the bad guys always like to hide their secret files under innocuous names.