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Post by Da Pwny on Jan 18, 2009 3:49:49 GMT -5
*nah... i wanna get to the action sometime soon >.<*
Catherine stuck around just long enough to hear the 'report' Justin was handing the Director before she scurried off back to her desk. Well, at least they weren't fired, yet. Though, if another incident came up, she didn't know what to think of it. Her thoughts were interrupted by an email that popped up suddenly. She checked immediately; no title, and the contents were- scrambled? In an 'n-squared' format no less- easily cracked, when she found the time. What idiot would be sending her- unless... No, that wasn't possible. It couldn't be whoever had gotten into the system before- or could it? Maybe, just maybe, they saw her as a source to be used? That thought did not sit well with Cath...
She saved a copy to her thumb drive and sent one to her own boss with some attached notes, then deleted the original immediately. Was someone trying desperately to be rid of her, to have her out of their hair by getting her fired, or to push her along a particular path in their own little game? Neither one she liked; even on her way out the door, Catherine felt like she was being watched. She needed to pick up a few things before heading to her apartment. That'd give her time to decode the message while she shopped; if it really was encoded via n-squared, it'd hardly be an issue...
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Post by knightc3 on Jan 18, 2009 4:48:55 GMT -5
Justin was excused too shortly after the director informed him to keep the system under constant watch. He went back to his desk and added a few more rules into the logger. It seemed to be running smoothly for now, every once in a while, catching something that seemed like a possible attack.
He yawned as he sat back in his desk, stretching himself on his desk. Nothing too exciting happened that day, fortunately. But just as was about to log out for the day, the system went haywire, again. This time it wasn't just one file that was sent out. It was as if his system was creating backdoors through the existing security. He made a couple of calls and everyone watched as their security shield was being perforated by another system that was not meant to do that.
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Post by Da Pwny on Jan 18, 2009 5:09:52 GMT -5
Cath was just about to start the car when her cellphone rang. Picking it up, she answered it, and almost immediately her eyes shot open at the news her ears heard. Slamming it shut without even saying a goodbye, the young woman raced back through the doors, leaving her handbag behind in the car, which she'd had the mind to lock before getting too far from the vehicle.
When she made it inside, the place was in mass hysteria and disarray; programmers were furiously typing in vain on their computers, trying to stop the spread of whatever it was that had broken security down. Racing to her own department, Catherine got blank stares from the others the instant she entered. For what seemed like an eternity, that's all she got; even her manager was at a loss for what to do. It was only when she snapped into action that the area got busy again. "Start the trackers. Get those watchdog programs up. Find out where its coming from, and plug the drain!"
"Cath, its coming from everywhere!" one of her coworkers shouted. "It just keeps spreading!" "Our security is siphoning data to an outside source, location: unknown!" "What is this?"
Abruptly, the room went silent again; every Internet connection went dead all at once. Catherine re-entered a moment later from the router room, dusting her hands off as she commanded "Call up the other departments, and tell them to shut off or unplug their routers before we lose everything; if they can't, then they can unplug each unit individually. Someone's tampered with our security, but they can't get to our computers if there's no connection to carry them. Once the building is down, we'll assess the damage from there, and hopefully come up with an analysis of what to do next. Lets move it people; get those phones ringing at once!"
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Post by knightc3 on Jan 18, 2009 6:04:30 GMT -5
All he heard was whispers that somehow he was responsible. After all it was his system that was now 'infecting' the whole network. The problem was this didn't help much when all the supervisor could shout was that he needed to shut down his system and everyone else thinking why he was still here and not in front of a firing squad. That meant he was the only one in his department left to solve this problem. After trying in vain to find what scripts were causing these problems, he finally gave in and told them how they could shut down his system, through the hardware.
They went about pulling out the cables to the hardware that stored everything on the network. when he came back to his desk, he found a group of four armed 'suits' waiting for him at his desk. They handed him a file. He looked at the cover and the blood drained from his tired and fatigued face. "The Debriefing Instructions" He had heard of this folder. It was the standard procedure the employees were to follow before they were kicked out. Stuff like setting a default password. Save off all unsaved reports. He went back behind his computer and followed the terse bullet points, anxiety rising in his mind with every second.
A small swearing spree by his supervisor distracted the agents enough for him to send out a last email to a person he didn't really expect to help but was probably the only one who could.
Help me... please... Jus
That was all he got through before one of them turned around and saw what he was doing and grabbed one of his arm. "HEY! Get him away from the terminal!" All he could do was press "SEND" before he was literally dragged away from the floor.
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Post by Da Pwny on Jan 18, 2009 6:29:36 GMT -5
The more she looked at it, the more familiar the code seemed to be. Where had she seen this before? Not that it mattered; no matter what situation she ran on the simulation software her department had, the security system failed. There was nothing they could do; the system would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. There was something happening just above her that caught Catherine's attention for a moment, but it ceased soon enough. Probably some more panicked IT guys running about trying to get the system working again she told herself, even though her gut told her otherwise.
Finally turning in, she left, missing Justin's dramatic escape by several minutes. It was all one big headache to her. Stopping by the grocery, she picked up some basics before heading home, but her mind never was there for even one second. That meeting, the message she'd received, the glitches she'd found the night before, everything; it all had a sense of foreboding now, as if it was carefully planned by someone. 'For what, though?' she whispered out loud to herself, unaware even of the fact that the check-out lady was staring impatiently at her.
"I said: paper or plastic, lady?" "Huh?! Oh, sorry... plastic, please. I've been kinda spacing today..." "Whatever ya say, lady... I ain't your shrink, ya know."
What a b**** Cath almost blurted out as she walked out the front, bags in hand, barely stopping that thought from leaving her mind. Yeah, today ranked up there with the sh**tiest days of her short life, right up there next to her father's funeral... No, not now. There were problems to be solved, puzzles to be completed, and Catherine had a sense that at least some answers laid with that message she'd gotten, as though that was the key to something coming up very soon...
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Post by knightc3 on Jan 18, 2009 6:44:57 GMT -5
Justin was have the worst day of his life so far. For one, he was in handcuffs. They would have wanted to take him away quietly and respectfully before beginning the real debriefing in a closed off soundproof room. The line off questioning was a complete giveaway as to what was happening. They were asking him about how he claimed to have no knowledge of all these happening that occurred due to and by his system, the one he designed. He kept explaining that he never programmed such things in. He didn't even have access to protocols that his system seemed to have gone around with ease. How could he design a system to penetrate security of systems he didn't even know about.
Then the questioning turned to who all had access to the administration level of the system. He listed out the people he knew about, mentioning that the there were some he didn't know about. When they did a dead-end on trying to find the leak, they interrogator turned a bit violent. He was caught off-guard by the punch the man threw at his face, right on his jaw. He flew off the chair and his head hit the wall on the way down. He lay there dazed for a minute before he was pulled to his feet and sat back in his chair.
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Post by Da Pwny on Jan 18, 2009 7:16:36 GMT -5
*ouch O.o CIA goes old-style again x: *
She just wanted to sleep. Instead, Catherine was met at the door by that pestering bastard, who happened to say that he was finally moving out of the house tomorrow. Great. That meant she'd be paying the bills on her own now, granted if she really didn't get fired for what had happened earlier.
But finally, she had a moment alone. Plopping down in front of the computer, she checked her email, and was surprised to see a message from an unknown address that didn't seem like spam... opening it, Cath's shock widened when she saw how abruptly it ended, and how horribly written it was; flashbacks of the code she'd seen earlier came to her; then images of what little bits of Justin's report she'd seen. Yes, finally, the pieces were coming together. He was in some serious trouble, if what she figured was true. Responding with her best wishes and a reassuring promise that she'd figure something out, Catherine finally retired, unaware of the lunar reflection that followed her...
Opening one of the windows, she laid down in the shared bed, groaning in annoyance as to the fact that she couldn't get any sleep at all. Her boyfriend, who'd gone to sleep before her, didn't make a peep. That was out of the ordinary, especially considering he loved waking up just to piss her off. It wasn't until she turned over that she noticed the small trickle of blood coming off the back of his head, staining the pillow, nor the small oval of light that tracked slowly across the bed until...
Reacting immediately, Cath rolled abruptly away as a puff of down feathers erupted from where her head had been. Lying flat against the ground, her mind raced, trying to think through what was going on. Sniper was the first thing that came to her mind, and it made perfect sense. Someone wanted her dead, but who? And why?
No time she told herself, move. Now. And she did; pushing herself up slightly, Cath grabbed a pillow from behind her, hurling it into the air and ran on all fours, three puffs of what had been carpet trailing behind her. Disoriented but not unreasonable, she ran for all she was, knocking over everything in her way to get to the door. Suddenly, not three feet from the door, she felt something thump against her arm as she tripped over a box, and didn't feel the pain until she hit the floor hard enough to black out for a few minutes...
Opening her eyes, she saw the door open slightly, but who it was whom entered with those midnight-black boots would be impossible to figure out as her vision was horribly blurred. Pain racking her whole body, Cath fell asleep again, the next time awakening to heat, terrible searing heat, on top of her pain. Her apartment... someone had set it on fire, and she was trapped inside.
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Post by knightc3 on Jan 19, 2009 2:19:54 GMT -5
Now they just left him in the room, handcuffed to the table. He was sure if he met the man who set him up, he would kill him for doing this to him. Then the same investigator that had punched him earlier in the face came through the door with a file in his hand. He threw it in front of him and opened to show the picture of none other than Catherine.
He looked up at the man at which point he asked him something that left his jaw hanging, "This particular employee whom you have been known to work with is now wanted by the Feds. Have you two been conspiring all this from the start?"
"What??? How the... She was..." He didn't know what to say. "She is just a co-worker and a friend. I don't know her much."
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Post by Da Pwny on Jan 19, 2009 17:48:24 GMT -5
Get up Catherine demanded herself, feeling the heat getting closer and closer. She had to get out. She had to live... Even with her shoulder bleeding, the woman forced herself up just far enough that she could drag her ragged body forward, rolling once or twice to kill flames that had started catching her clothes on fire. Snatching her backpack and purse from the table she'd left them on, Cath grabbed the thumb drive from its hiding place, she tore the device open, then pulled out the makeup tray and hid it underneath that. Replacing the case, she began dragging herself from the quickly-disintegrating apartment.
Sirens broke her silence as she tried the door, burning her hand in the process. Not like she cared much right now, but it would sting like all hell later on. Shouts came from outside in the hallway, Catherine moving just in time as the inflamed door was splintered by a fireman's axe, soon busted off its hinges. The last she remembered from there before passing out was her body being dragged from the fire along with her backpack, her purse tucked under the table she had been in not long before. All the equipment she needed would survive, even if the computer didn't...
A few hours later, Catherine woke up, dazed and disoriented for a few moments before she recognized her surroundings. Good, she was alive, and in the hospital, probably being treated for her burns. Since they'd taken her glasses as well, Cath couldn't see much, but it all sounded like a hospital. When she tried to get up, however, a firm hand gently pushed her back down, speaking soothing but empty promises about how everything was going to be alright and that she'd be out soon. That wasn't going to happen, and even in her state, Cath knew that whoever wanted her dead before wouldn't stop until she was out of the way. Closing her eyes, she still kept one slightly open, just enough to detect motion around her. It wasn't supposed to be this way... what had gone wrong, and when or where?
A nurse came in, checked the equipment, turned to change the IV drip, then left, leaving the curtain open. It wasn't long before Catherine became aware of the suits standing right outside, visible through the tiny wire-reinforced window. Her memory jumped back to that email she'd received from Justin, which had been so abruptly cut off; did they really think she was involved in all of this? Of course they did: all were suspect, none were trusted. A doctor stopped by them, chatting momentarily before leading them into her room. Alarms were raised but she could do nothing to stop them from entering the room. Terrified, Cath didn't even try to fake that she was asleep as the men came along side her, one of them speaking from behind dark sunglasses "Ms. Yatis, isn't it? We a few questions for you..."
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