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When Jeremy led Bob Jackson into the Merrill computer lab, his butterflies were building. But after a slightly delayed meeting kick-off, he hit his stride and started getting into the showman role. Jeremy introduced his "personal friend," Bob Jackson, to the club members in attendance and then called the meeting to order.
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| Jeremy: |
I've asked this special group of fellow Ethernauts here today in order for you to help me demonstrate a revolutionary software breakthrough. All you have to do is watch the monitor here on the table. Okay? Bob, I want you to keep your eye on the audience and observe. Okay here we go. Everybody take a look at this first picture.
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| Audience: |
What's it supposed to be? I don't see anything?
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| Jeremy: |
That's all right. It's supposed to be... fuzzy, at first. While we're waiting, maybe we could talk about these brand new pennies I brought with me. Would anyone like to buy one of them? They're for sale and priced at just one dollar each.
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The audience unanimously shouted its need to buy the pennies at one hundred times their value. The Ethernauts dug into their pockets and purses to get as much cash as they could find. Jeremy traded the copper coins for dollar bills in a feeding frenzy that pitted friend against friend. Finally, each of the nine Ethernauts had given Jeremy their money and returned to their seat. But Jeremy's access to the "D" language file did not escape Spike Webb's notice. He quickly alerted Nancy that the Web server had accessed the file and routed it to a browser on campus.
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| Spike: |
We're out of time. We have to do something. Do you want me to crash his Web server?
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| Nancy: |
Not yet, that's a last resort. He'll know we're on to him and if he has a backup plan he'll use it.
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| Spike: |
Only a devious mind would think of that.
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| Nancy: |
Thank you. I'm almost ready... I think. Okay Spike, here, take this new file and copy it over the three on that server.
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| Spike: |
Upload in progress, twenty-five more seconds. What does the new file do?
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| Nancy: |
Absolutely nothing, the command fields are blank.
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| Spike: |
That should confuse things for a while.
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Meanwhile, the sailboat finally cleared the drawbridge and Tom was once again making progress. It was slow, but any progress was now an improvement. Molly had forgotten how important nail-biting was until she sat helpless in that car for about five minutes. She drew blood when Tom's cell phone rang.
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| Tom: |
Tom Barnett.
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| Nancy: |
Tom, it's Nancy. Are you there yet?
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| Tom: |
No, we got backed-up at the marina drawbridge. Hope your luck is running better than ours.
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| Nancy: |
We found the "D" language image files on a Web server and replaced them with a neutral one. I think we've cut him off.
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| Tom: |
You found all the files?
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| Nancy: |
He only uploaded three of them.
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| Tom: |
The others are around someplace. Which ones did you find?
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| Nancy: |
Uhh, hold on a minute... Here they are, we found: "Buy Pennies," "Get Jeremy into Corporate Headquarters," and "Drive off Bridge."
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| Tom: |
Read me the others again, can you?
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| Nancy: |
The ones we haven't found are: "Quit Your Job," "Sell Your Stocks," "Withdraw Money from Bank," and "Buy Anything Gold."
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| Tom: |
Nancy, the missing ones sound to me like they might be intended for a broader audience. Taken together they're sort of a grassroots economic attack. If a lot of people started doing those things at the same time, the country's finances would go to Hell in a hurry.
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| Nancy: |
I think we were lucky to find the other three Tom. We'll keep looking, but getting to Jeremy is our best shot. How much longer until you're there?
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| Tom: |
Just a couple minutes, Nancy. I'll call you as soon as we have him.
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Tom clicked off the line and concentrated on the road as he filled in Molly and Zeke. The traffic thinned out and Tom punched the accelerator as he turned onto Bay Boulevard for the final two miles of the drive. Time for demonstration phase two. The Ethernaut test group had worked perfectly and just when Jeremy's confidence had made a full recovery, Bob Jackson took him down a couple notches.
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| Jackson: |
Listen kid, I've seen more smoke and mirrors stunts in my time than a magician's assistant. Most of them used something better than an audience full of their best friends. You got anything else or should I get back on the road now?
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| Jeremy: |
There's plenty more, Bob. In fact, you're up for the next round. Have a seat right down front, if you don't mind?
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| Jackson: |
Let's keep this moving along all right. I can still get in a couple hours on the car phone.
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| Jeremy: |
Now Bob, I want you to look at this screen. How do you like this image here? Does it make you think of New York and the corporate office?
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| Jackson: |
It makes me think of when my cable goes out and the screen turns to a snow blizzard.
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| Jeremy: |
Yes, but listen... New York, New York.
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| Jackson: |
You're not a very good singer, either. I'm out of here.
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| Jeremy: |
No, you can't go. Let me fix it. It'll just take a minute, Bob.
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| Jackson: |
Did I say you had one chance or two? Right now, you look like the idiot. If I sit back down and wait for you to try something else, I play the fool. That just doesn't happen in my world, Jeremy. Go back to the books. Get a diploma and an entry level job. Maybe we'll meet again someday.
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Jeremy panicked as the audience laughed at the treatment he was getting from his close 'personal friend,' Bob Jackson. His only hope was the diskette. Maybe he had gotten the files confused when he uploaded them. There wasn't time to figure it out before Jackson would be gone. But he might be able to have his browser open a file from the diskette. He quickly inserted it and clicked through the menus to his diskette files. Just as Jackson was disappearing through the door Jeremy brought up the image and checked to make sure the location pointer had the file he wanted. It looked right, but Jackson never turned around. He was gone. Jeremy's anger grew until it finally burst out. He ran through the door and up to the parking lot. He saw Jackson's car speeding out toward the campus exit. Jeremy was madly driving after him a moment later. He swerved onto the road as Tom Barnett, Molly, and Zeke pulled into the parking lot.
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| Tom: |
Zeke, get into the computer lab. Hold everybody there until we get back, got it? Nobody leaves for any reason. Their lives may depend on it. We're going after Jeremy.
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| Molly: |
Tom, what's wrong? I don't get it.
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| Tom: |
We don't know what images they've been exposed to in there. Can't take any chances.
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| Molly: |
We've got to catch Jeremy. He's dangerous when he loses his temper.
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| Tom: |
Our chances would be a lot better if this tin can I'm driving had any horsepower.
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Jackson continued driving at his usual extreme speed. Jeremy was closing in, but not by much. Tom closed the gap on Jeremy when traffic bunched up and slowed them all down. Jackson selected the route through the business district. He probably didn't know any better. Following the freeway entrance signs, he went up and onto the east-bound bridge. Jeremy was now within a few car lengths and could see Jackson talking on his cell phone as he drove with one straight arm holding the center of the steering wheel. Then, Jeremy felt his own arms tighten as they seemed to fight him for control of the car. They were pulling or trying to pull the wheel to the right. Jeremy fought to suppress the urge, but then, in one horrifying instant of clarity he remembered the "D" language image. The one that commanded the viewer to "Drive off Bridge." Had he mistakenly selected it as he rushed to get an image on-screen for Jackson? And then he must have looked at it! He asked himself if it was possible that such a thing happened, and as he thought back he remembered looking at the screen. Suddenly his mind brought the image up from memory and it was in front of him again! Jeremy no longer stood a fighting chance against the "D" language command. The car swerved wildly against the side of the bridge hitting the curb and tumbling sideways up and over the edge. Fifty feet later the Porsche slammed into the embankment below. Molly gasped and held her breath as she watched Jeremy's vehicle fly through the air like a toy. It seemed to be suspended in mid-air forever. Maybe it could get back to the road? Maybe he could get out of the car before it hit? Maybe it wasn't Jeremy? Was it going to hit something? Ever? How could there be so much time for so many questions? But when the time finally expired, Molly watched Jeremy's car explode in flames as it rolled down the embankment. She knew he was dead. He felt dead. Tom stopped the car when they reached the other side of the overpass. Molly sat motionless in the passenger seat while Tom stood outside the car and looked down at the crumpled wreck. Tom now also knew Jeremy was dead. He reached for the phone and called Nancy.
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| Tom: |
Nancy, its Tom. There's been an accident. It looks like Jeremy is dead. He drove off a bridge. I'm at the scene now.
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| Nancy: |
Oh, Tom. If only we had found...
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| Tom: |
Let's don't blame ourselves, Nancy. We did everything we could. Listen, I've got Molly here with me. I'm going to take her home.
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| Nancy: |
I'll get over there as soon as I can. I'm still worried about the other four "D" language images. We have to figure out what he did with them.
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| Molly: |
E-mail...
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| Tom: |
Hold on a second, Nancy. Molly, what did you say?
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| Molly: |
E-mail. He e-mailed them... to someone... who... who.
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| Tom: |
How do you know that Molly?
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| Molly: |
I just know.
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| Tom: |
Nancy, you there? Molly says he e-mailed them to someone. Doesn't know to who, but she seems real sure about the e-mail part.
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| Nancy: |
Thanks Tom. Tell Molly thanks, too. I know how to find them.
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Nancy hung up and shifted her attention back to Spike. She had to put Jeremy out of her mind for now. The quicker the "D" language files could be found, the easier it would be to wrap them up once and for all.
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| Nancy: |
Spike, remember the e-mail Jeremy sent from Molly's account? We need to track it down and fast.
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| Spike: |
Hold on a second, let me get that message log. It shows one e-mail sent with four files attached. Sizes look right for the "D" language images.
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| Nancy: |
Who did he send them to?
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| Spike: |
Looks like they went to someone named Darin at Yahoo!.
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| Nancy: |
Think he's a friend of Jeremy's.
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| Spike: |
Hold on, I'm accessing the message now... 'Please find attached... blah, blah, blah, ...your banner rotation as soon as possible!?' Nancy, he sent them in as Web page banner ads. Yahoo! is going to display them on-line!
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| Nancy: |
When!?
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| Spike: |
It doesn't say when they go up. It does confirm that he 'will be happy to pay any necessary surcharge for getting the banners on-line immediately.' They could be up already!
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| Nancy: |
I'll call Yahoo! and tell them what's going on. Can you...
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| Spike: |
...Take the empty "D" language image you created and try to replace the ones Jeremy sent them. I'm gone.
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Nancy got Yahoo!'s Mountain View, California phone number from directory assistance. She dialed and got routed through to the customer service department. They seemed to understand Nancy perfectly. She wanted to stop someone else's banners from going on-line.
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| Yahoo!: |
I'm sorry ma'am. Our policies are quite clear on this. If you can have Mr. Jones e-mail us a change to the order...
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| Nancy: |
I wish I could have him e-mail you, unfortunately, he's dead.
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| Yahoo!: |
Yes ma'am. Dead. Well, when he gets back on-line...
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| Nancy: |
Not that kind of 'dead.' Physically dead. No more heartbeat. Car accident. Death. Morgue. Funeral. Cemetery. Forever. Am I getting through to you yet?
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| Yahoo!: |
Wow, like, really dead?
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| Nancy: |
The point is you have to stop the banners he sent.
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| Yahoo!: |
I don't think we have a policy for this yet. We're kind of new.
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| Nancy: |
Can I talk to your supervisor?
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| Yahoo!: |
I'm afraid she's out of the office right now. She went to the Lexus dealer to check out this cool car. We just went public and...
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| Nancy: |
Never-mind that! I've got to stop those banners! Can you tell me this, are they on-line now?
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| Yahoo!: |
Oh no, we've been really backed up cause so many people missed work after the big party last week. We should get to them soon though.
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| Nancy: |
Thanks. You've been a big help.
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| Yahoo!: |
Thank you for calling Yahoo!.
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Nancy had learned one valuable and positive piece of information, they had not yet started working on Jeremy's banners to move them into the on-line rotation. She messaged the information to Spike who received it just before entering Yahoo!'s network. It made his job easy as long as he got to the files first. Pointers from the e-mail system logs showed him where the incoming POP3 mail was stored. The e-mail file attributes showed they had not yet opened the message or its attached files. Spike quickly substituted the harmless file for each of the other four and checked back out of the network before one of the Yahoo! system administrators could notice. As he left, he saw Jeremy's e-mail file being streamed out onto the network. Spike had made it in time, but not by much. The following weeks were difficult ones for Molly McGill. The tragedy of Jeremy's death was hard to accept and only Zeke knew what happened in those last few days of his life. So when people described the accident as 'senseless' or 'random,' Molly knew better, but couldn't talk about it. Maybe that made it easier to begin forgetting.
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File End.![]() ![]()
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Copyright © 1995 ISYS Idea Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in |
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