Part 441: Figuring it Out Part 2
Eddie quickly scrambled down the stairs as he heard the doorbell ringing. Within one fluid motion, he strode through the living room and opened the front door. Phlip stood there, looking at him with his skateboard in one hand and his back pack behind him. He calmly pushed up his wire rimmed glasses with his index finger. “Top of the day to you, Eddie.” He smiled.
“Come on in, Phlip.” He said motioning him in, “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem. I’ll admit you have my curiosity peaked.” The computer nerd said, placing his skateboard to the side, “Where is your computer?”
“Up stairs.” He pointed.
Phlip strode up the stairs and immediately recognized the study. He walked and sat down at the chair next to the computer. The young man reached into his backpack and pulled out a strange blue box. Pulling out a wire from it’s back, he then quickly attached it to the USB port in the back of the machine. He pointed at the screen. “Is this the password access you want me to break?” he asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
Phlip then minimized the window and then double clicked on the extra drive he brought. Within it was an Icon to a program he built. He then double clicked it, then it began to run. The window for the Dharma password access came right back up and below it was a smaller square, letting letters fly toward the access in rapid motion. “Hmm.” The nerd placed his hand over his mouth.
“What is it?” Eddie asked.
“It’s a simple binary alphanumeric access but the program my system chose was meant for abnormal system access.”
“IN English, Phlip.”
“This password prompt will access a program, Eddie.”
“What program?”
“Won’t know till we press Enter.”
Eddie then reached in his backpocket and pulled out his wallet. He then took the money that was in it and then held it toward the computer nerd. Phlip looked up at him with a bit of concern. “Two hundred dollars, Phlip,” the young man whispered, “The moment your program breaks through, you take this money, and you leave. Also, I don’t want you to tell anybody that you did this.”
The computer expert sighed and smiled. “Keep it,” he said, looking back to the screen, “ And I’m a hacker, Eddie. I make it my business NOT to tell people what I really do.”
Eddie was now confused. He was offering the computer expert from a middle-class family two hundred dollars free and clear. He calmly put it back into his wallet. “You’re a better kid than I thought you were, Phlip.” He smiled.
“Think nothing of it,” he said, leaning back in the chair, “Besides, I owe you.”
“Owe me? For what?”
“That day in the bus stop. Brian was going to kiss my ass, I know it. But you stepped in. Maybe not for the right reasons but you did it anyway. I heard you were upset over taking apart Brian and his football team, yeah?”
Eddie tucked his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, I was,” he whispered.
“Not me. I’ve never been more happy that day. You taught Brian he wasn’t invincible. And for that, I owe you.”
“Thank you, Phlip.” Eddie said.
Then he heard a beeping sound behind him. The computer nerd rotated the chair to face the screen. The program had finished it’s cycle, showing the password to the access.
PASSWORD>OLYMPUS
“Olympus. Interesting,” Phlip then unplugged his drive and then got ready to leave, “It’s all set to go, Eddie. All you got to do is press the Enter key.”
“Thanks again, man.” The young man patted him on the shoulder.
“Eddie, one more thing I need to say,” he said, pointing at the computer, “I have a sixth sense about these sort of things. The moment you press Enter, you are stepping through a door that could have sever repercussions and there is no turning back. You understand?”
“Thanks for your concern, Phlip,” Eddie sighed, “But what I’m about to do . . . .I HAVE to do.”
“Okay then,” he said, shaking his hand, “Good luck.”
Eddie followed the boy down the stairs and into the living room. The young man watched his friend pick up his skateboard and then leave through the front door. The teenager peered out the window to make sure Phlip was on his way. He then walked back into the kitchen, opened the fridge and picked up another cold Diet Coke. Striding back up the stairs, he got back into the study and sat down. He stared at the screen with the access and the ancient password. Eddie took a deep breath, then pressed ENTER.
The screen flickered black and green, then waited for another prompt. Eddie stared at it and then rubbed his mouth. The screen prompt looked exactly like the one for Argos back at the Shark Tank. Could this be access all the way back? He waited for something to move but nothing did. He then calmly typed the word, “Hello?”
He stared at the screen, then blinked. More words popped up on the screen.
HELLO.
WHO ARE YOU?
Eddie twitched his face. The screen was acting just like Argos did, and presumbably so did Watchman. He then calmly typed back into the screen with , “I’m Eddie. Who are you?”
HELLO, EDDIE.
I AM ATHENA.
“Whoa,” Eddie blinked. A new program? Not Watchman, nor Argos but one called Athena?
Eddie then typed into the system, “What are you?”
I AM A COMPLEX OBSERVATION AND CATALOGGING PROGRAM. I WAS CREATED BY DR. MARVIN CANDLE CIRCA 1984, PRIOR TO HIS DEATH. I AM STATIONED AT ISLA DE VERDE.
WHERE ARE YOU?
“An Island?” Eddie gasped, “She’s on an Island too? What is . . .”
Eddie concentrated. He was curious if this was real or someone was messing with him. Considering what he knew of the previous programs, he needed to make sure this was on the level. He then proceeded to type, “Never mind where I am. Athena, I must know. Is the Dharma Initiative still in effect?”
IT HAS NEVER CEASED.
Eddie rubbed his mouth again. If the Dharma Initiative is still active, then WHERE is it active? The young man then wrote down the name of the Island; Isla De Verde. Sounded Spanish, so he wondered where exactly she was. He quickly then typed into the system, “Athena, what do you know of Watchman?”
WATCHMAN WAS A PROGRAMING UNIT DESIGNED TO MONITOR ELECTROMAGNETIC ANOMALIES ON UNKNOWN LOCATION. IT SERVED AS CENTRAL HUB FOR EXPERIMENTATION ON LIVE SPECIMENS. ATHENA IS THE SUCCESSOR TO THIS PROGRAM.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF WATCHMAN, EDDIE?
Eddie smiled a bit. Athena did known what Watchman was and from the way it sound; he might as well have been her father. Eddie continued to test her. “I met Watchman before he left into space.” He typed.
HOW DID THAT UNIT ACCOMPLISH SUCH A THING?
“He transferred his memory core into a unit that was capable of space flight.” He typed, “The unit was designated MOLE.”
THERE IS NO SUCH RECORD OF SAID EVENT IN MY DATABANKS. I DO NOT KNOW IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH.
“Yet you know of Watchman,” the young man continued, “What does your databanks tell you about Watchman?”
RECORDS INDICATED HE WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO UNSTABLE MEMORY CORE CAPACITY. SHUTDOWN DATE WAS 08/05/1992
“Wrong info,” Eddie typed, “ I was there when he was active in 2004.”
THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. MY DATABANKS ARE CLEAR.
“Your databanks are wrong , Athena. And I have no reason to lie.” He typed.
PERHAPS. PERHAPS NOT.
LET ME CONFIRM
WHAT WAS WATCHMAN’S SECURITY PROMPT?
>>
Eddie figured it was the only security prompt that he knew. He proceeded to type back in the famous number. “4,8,15,16,23 42” he whispered to himself.
The moment he did, there was a pause in the screen. Then the words came back and Eddie raised an eyebrow.
VERY WELL. I STILL CAN NOT CONFIRM IF YOU ARE LYING BUT YET YOU KNOW THE COMMAND PROMPT TO THE OLD PROGRAM..
ONLY RESEARCHERS AND STATION PERSONNEL WOULD KNOW THE CODE. SO CLEARLY YOU WERE THERE IN SOME FASHION. MAY I ASK WHAT MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT WATCHMAN?
“I don’t know much more than that. He realigned my electromagnetic signal, giving me certain special gifts,” he typed, “However, it was a friend of mine that spoke with Watchman the most.”
WHO IS THIS “FRIEND”? CAN YOU BRING THEM TO ME?
“Not now, but maybe later,” Eddie said, trying to convince her that he had no indention of going toward her Island. He didn’t even know where that was. He rubbed his eyes and typed in, “Can you help me with some information retrieval?”
WHAT DATA DO YOU REQUIRE?
“I need to who Matt Tefpourth is.” He typed.
MATT TEFPOURTH; AGE 38. RECENTLY PROMOTING TO BEHAVIOR SPECLIAST WITH HANSO FOUNDATION. CURRENT JOB DESCRIPTION;OBSERVE AND COLLECT HUMAN SPECIMENS ON ISLA DE VERDE.
Eddie was growing more and more curious. The program had just mentioned the name Isla De Verde yet again. She said the Dharma Initiative had never ceased. It truly did on the Island he had done but where was this new Island? Bonnie said Matt would be gone for months at a time. So Athena was telling the truth. The Dharma Initiative was still in effect but somewhere else. The young man then shook his head. He had to focus on one problem at a time. “Athena, is Matt Tefpourth a clone?” he typed.
YES, HE IS.
Eddie nearly puked. He was just guessing about Ethan Rom, Wickman, Candle and Tefpourth, then was amazed he was proven right. He took a deep breath and then typed into the system. “Athena, is Bonnie Mayer a clone?” he typed in.
UNKNOWN
THE NAME BONNIE MAYER IS NOT IN MY DATABANKS.
Eddie let out a massive sigh of relief. He didn’t know if it truly didn’t confirm anything but hopefully it did in a way; confirm that she and Bunny were separated twins. Eddie coughed and straightened up in the chair. He proceeded to type in, “Athena, who is Matt Tefpourth cloned from?”
MATT TEFPOURTH IS CLONED FROM SUBJECT NAMED ETHAN ROM.
“Who is Ethan Rom cloned from?” he typed in.
ETHAN ROM IS CLONED FROM SUBJECT JOHN MARRICHET.
“Is John Marrichet cloned from anybody?” he typed in.
JOHN MARRICHET IS CLONED FROM EDWARD KREIG.
“Who is Edward Kreig cloned from?” Eddie typed in.
EDWARD KREIG IS CLONED FROM NO ONE. SUBJECT KREIG IS ASPECT ZERO.
“Aspect Zero?” Eddie immediately wrote down the term on his pad. The young man was then ready to get more information about the Isla De Verde. However, the screen then flickered and new words came up.
I AM SORRY EDDIE
I MUST LEAVE.
THE GORGON REQUIRES SHUT DOWN AND MAINTENCE. IT’S AGRESSION RATE HAD INCREASED.
FAREWELL
PLEASE CONTACT ME AGAIN. I REQUIRE INFORMATION ABOUT WATCHMAN.
Before Eddie could tell her to stay with it, the black and green screen flickered off, then he was back to the main Hanso Foundation website. He grunted and slammed his hands on the desk in frustration. Eddie took a deep breath and calmed down. He looked at his pad with all the notes. He had the information he needed for hopefully gaining some leverage over Matt. Now he had to prepare for tomorrow.
He proceeded back into his room and slumped down on his knees, opening his closet. He then pulled out a large white box. After opening it, he proceeded to dump the assortment of comic books from it. At the end of it was an object, wrapped in a piece of cloth with the Shark Tank Dharma symbol over it. The day they left that particular Hatch, Jilly came up to him. She placed the object in his backpack and whispered just in case into his ear. They never knew who to trust but Eddie held onto it. He never knew if he would one day need it. He calmly unwrapped it from the cloth.
The .45 Longslide pistol was light in his hand. He calmly unlocked the firing pin and proceeded to clean it with the gear he got from Sawyer on his birthday a long time ago. The redneck never told Tony nor his mother that he got him the kit. He figured that Eddie knew what he was doing.
As he made sure the gun was working, Eddie prayed he did know what he was doing.
“Come on in, Phlip.” He said motioning him in, “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem. I’ll admit you have my curiosity peaked.” The computer nerd said, placing his skateboard to the side, “Where is your computer?”
“Up stairs.” He pointed.
Phlip strode up the stairs and immediately recognized the study. He walked and sat down at the chair next to the computer. The young man reached into his backpack and pulled out a strange blue box. Pulling out a wire from it’s back, he then quickly attached it to the USB port in the back of the machine. He pointed at the screen. “Is this the password access you want me to break?” he asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
Phlip then minimized the window and then double clicked on the extra drive he brought. Within it was an Icon to a program he built. He then double clicked it, then it began to run. The window for the Dharma password access came right back up and below it was a smaller square, letting letters fly toward the access in rapid motion. “Hmm.” The nerd placed his hand over his mouth.
“What is it?” Eddie asked.
“It’s a simple binary alphanumeric access but the program my system chose was meant for abnormal system access.”
“IN English, Phlip.”
“This password prompt will access a program, Eddie.”
“What program?”
“Won’t know till we press Enter.”
Eddie then reached in his backpocket and pulled out his wallet. He then took the money that was in it and then held it toward the computer nerd. Phlip looked up at him with a bit of concern. “Two hundred dollars, Phlip,” the young man whispered, “The moment your program breaks through, you take this money, and you leave. Also, I don’t want you to tell anybody that you did this.”
The computer expert sighed and smiled. “Keep it,” he said, looking back to the screen, “ And I’m a hacker, Eddie. I make it my business NOT to tell people what I really do.”
Eddie was now confused. He was offering the computer expert from a middle-class family two hundred dollars free and clear. He calmly put it back into his wallet. “You’re a better kid than I thought you were, Phlip.” He smiled.
“Think nothing of it,” he said, leaning back in the chair, “Besides, I owe you.”
“Owe me? For what?”
“That day in the bus stop. Brian was going to kiss my ass, I know it. But you stepped in. Maybe not for the right reasons but you did it anyway. I heard you were upset over taking apart Brian and his football team, yeah?”
Eddie tucked his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, I was,” he whispered.
“Not me. I’ve never been more happy that day. You taught Brian he wasn’t invincible. And for that, I owe you.”
“Thank you, Phlip.” Eddie said.
Then he heard a beeping sound behind him. The computer nerd rotated the chair to face the screen. The program had finished it’s cycle, showing the password to the access.
PASSWORD>OLYMPUS
“Olympus. Interesting,” Phlip then unplugged his drive and then got ready to leave, “It’s all set to go, Eddie. All you got to do is press the Enter key.”
“Thanks again, man.” The young man patted him on the shoulder.
“Eddie, one more thing I need to say,” he said, pointing at the computer, “I have a sixth sense about these sort of things. The moment you press Enter, you are stepping through a door that could have sever repercussions and there is no turning back. You understand?”
“Thanks for your concern, Phlip,” Eddie sighed, “But what I’m about to do . . . .I HAVE to do.”
“Okay then,” he said, shaking his hand, “Good luck.”
Eddie followed the boy down the stairs and into the living room. The young man watched his friend pick up his skateboard and then leave through the front door. The teenager peered out the window to make sure Phlip was on his way. He then walked back into the kitchen, opened the fridge and picked up another cold Diet Coke. Striding back up the stairs, he got back into the study and sat down. He stared at the screen with the access and the ancient password. Eddie took a deep breath, then pressed ENTER.
The screen flickered black and green, then waited for another prompt. Eddie stared at it and then rubbed his mouth. The screen prompt looked exactly like the one for Argos back at the Shark Tank. Could this be access all the way back? He waited for something to move but nothing did. He then calmly typed the word, “Hello?”
He stared at the screen, then blinked. More words popped up on the screen.
HELLO.
WHO ARE YOU?
Eddie twitched his face. The screen was acting just like Argos did, and presumbably so did Watchman. He then calmly typed back into the screen with , “I’m Eddie. Who are you?”
HELLO, EDDIE.
I AM ATHENA.
“Whoa,” Eddie blinked. A new program? Not Watchman, nor Argos but one called Athena?
Eddie then typed into the system, “What are you?”
I AM A COMPLEX OBSERVATION AND CATALOGGING PROGRAM. I WAS CREATED BY DR. MARVIN CANDLE CIRCA 1984, PRIOR TO HIS DEATH. I AM STATIONED AT ISLA DE VERDE.
WHERE ARE YOU?
“An Island?” Eddie gasped, “She’s on an Island too? What is . . .”
Eddie concentrated. He was curious if this was real or someone was messing with him. Considering what he knew of the previous programs, he needed to make sure this was on the level. He then proceeded to type, “Never mind where I am. Athena, I must know. Is the Dharma Initiative still in effect?”
IT HAS NEVER CEASED.
Eddie rubbed his mouth again. If the Dharma Initiative is still active, then WHERE is it active? The young man then wrote down the name of the Island; Isla De Verde. Sounded Spanish, so he wondered where exactly she was. He quickly then typed into the system, “Athena, what do you know of Watchman?”
WATCHMAN WAS A PROGRAMING UNIT DESIGNED TO MONITOR ELECTROMAGNETIC ANOMALIES ON UNKNOWN LOCATION. IT SERVED AS CENTRAL HUB FOR EXPERIMENTATION ON LIVE SPECIMENS. ATHENA IS THE SUCCESSOR TO THIS PROGRAM.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF WATCHMAN, EDDIE?
Eddie smiled a bit. Athena did known what Watchman was and from the way it sound; he might as well have been her father. Eddie continued to test her. “I met Watchman before he left into space.” He typed.
HOW DID THAT UNIT ACCOMPLISH SUCH A THING?
“He transferred his memory core into a unit that was capable of space flight.” He typed, “The unit was designated MOLE.”
THERE IS NO SUCH RECORD OF SAID EVENT IN MY DATABANKS. I DO NOT KNOW IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH.
“Yet you know of Watchman,” the young man continued, “What does your databanks tell you about Watchman?”
RECORDS INDICATED HE WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO UNSTABLE MEMORY CORE CAPACITY. SHUTDOWN DATE WAS 08/05/1992
“Wrong info,” Eddie typed, “ I was there when he was active in 2004.”
THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. MY DATABANKS ARE CLEAR.
“Your databanks are wrong , Athena. And I have no reason to lie.” He typed.
PERHAPS. PERHAPS NOT.
LET ME CONFIRM
WHAT WAS WATCHMAN’S SECURITY PROMPT?
>>
Eddie figured it was the only security prompt that he knew. He proceeded to type back in the famous number. “4,8,15,16,23 42” he whispered to himself.
The moment he did, there was a pause in the screen. Then the words came back and Eddie raised an eyebrow.
VERY WELL. I STILL CAN NOT CONFIRM IF YOU ARE LYING BUT YET YOU KNOW THE COMMAND PROMPT TO THE OLD PROGRAM..
ONLY RESEARCHERS AND STATION PERSONNEL WOULD KNOW THE CODE. SO CLEARLY YOU WERE THERE IN SOME FASHION. MAY I ASK WHAT MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT WATCHMAN?
“I don’t know much more than that. He realigned my electromagnetic signal, giving me certain special gifts,” he typed, “However, it was a friend of mine that spoke with Watchman the most.”
WHO IS THIS “FRIEND”? CAN YOU BRING THEM TO ME?
“Not now, but maybe later,” Eddie said, trying to convince her that he had no indention of going toward her Island. He didn’t even know where that was. He rubbed his eyes and typed in, “Can you help me with some information retrieval?”
WHAT DATA DO YOU REQUIRE?
“I need to who Matt Tefpourth is.” He typed.
MATT TEFPOURTH; AGE 38. RECENTLY PROMOTING TO BEHAVIOR SPECLIAST WITH HANSO FOUNDATION. CURRENT JOB DESCRIPTION;OBSERVE AND COLLECT HUMAN SPECIMENS ON ISLA DE VERDE.
Eddie was growing more and more curious. The program had just mentioned the name Isla De Verde yet again. She said the Dharma Initiative had never ceased. It truly did on the Island he had done but where was this new Island? Bonnie said Matt would be gone for months at a time. So Athena was telling the truth. The Dharma Initiative was still in effect but somewhere else. The young man then shook his head. He had to focus on one problem at a time. “Athena, is Matt Tefpourth a clone?” he typed.
YES, HE IS.
Eddie nearly puked. He was just guessing about Ethan Rom, Wickman, Candle and Tefpourth, then was amazed he was proven right. He took a deep breath and then typed into the system. “Athena, is Bonnie Mayer a clone?” he typed in.
UNKNOWN
THE NAME BONNIE MAYER IS NOT IN MY DATABANKS.
Eddie let out a massive sigh of relief. He didn’t know if it truly didn’t confirm anything but hopefully it did in a way; confirm that she and Bunny were separated twins. Eddie coughed and straightened up in the chair. He proceeded to type in, “Athena, who is Matt Tefpourth cloned from?”
MATT TEFPOURTH IS CLONED FROM SUBJECT NAMED ETHAN ROM.
“Who is Ethan Rom cloned from?” he typed in.
ETHAN ROM IS CLONED FROM SUBJECT JOHN MARRICHET.
“Is John Marrichet cloned from anybody?” he typed in.
JOHN MARRICHET IS CLONED FROM EDWARD KREIG.
“Who is Edward Kreig cloned from?” Eddie typed in.
EDWARD KREIG IS CLONED FROM NO ONE. SUBJECT KREIG IS ASPECT ZERO.
“Aspect Zero?” Eddie immediately wrote down the term on his pad. The young man was then ready to get more information about the Isla De Verde. However, the screen then flickered and new words came up.
I AM SORRY EDDIE
I MUST LEAVE.
THE GORGON REQUIRES SHUT DOWN AND MAINTENCE. IT’S AGRESSION RATE HAD INCREASED.
FAREWELL
PLEASE CONTACT ME AGAIN. I REQUIRE INFORMATION ABOUT WATCHMAN.
Before Eddie could tell her to stay with it, the black and green screen flickered off, then he was back to the main Hanso Foundation website. He grunted and slammed his hands on the desk in frustration. Eddie took a deep breath and calmed down. He looked at his pad with all the notes. He had the information he needed for hopefully gaining some leverage over Matt. Now he had to prepare for tomorrow.
He proceeded back into his room and slumped down on his knees, opening his closet. He then pulled out a large white box. After opening it, he proceeded to dump the assortment of comic books from it. At the end of it was an object, wrapped in a piece of cloth with the Shark Tank Dharma symbol over it. The day they left that particular Hatch, Jilly came up to him. She placed the object in his backpack and whispered just in case into his ear. They never knew who to trust but Eddie held onto it. He never knew if he would one day need it. He calmly unwrapped it from the cloth.
The .45 Longslide pistol was light in his hand. He calmly unlocked the firing pin and proceeded to clean it with the gear he got from Sawyer on his birthday a long time ago. The redneck never told Tony nor his mother that he got him the kit. He figured that Eddie knew what he was doing.
As he made sure the gun was working, Eddie prayed he did know what he was doing.
posted by Jason | 12:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home