Home » The Archives » Chapter 5 » Learning to Live in Paradise
| Re: Learning to Live in Paradise [message #1362 is a reply to message #1361] |
Thu, 26 July 2012 20:22   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
Switzerland |
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Saturday, April 14th; 5:30 AM; Lena's home
Lena found herself wide awake and thought that, since she probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, she'd work on Brains email scanner program. She put her robe and slippers on and quietly proceeded (so as not to awaken her guest) down the hall to her home office. But when she opened the door, she found she hadn't needed to be quiet.
"James! What are you doing in here?"
The man at the computer jumped, startled by her exclamation. He turned and looked at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, Lena. I know I should have asked, but I didn't want to wake you. I couldn't sleep -- never could for more than a few hours at a time. I've been using computer games to help me when I feel the need to gamble. It's been working so far. And I didn't think you would mind."
She looked at him sternly as she walked over to the desk to see what game he was playing. "You should have told me dis last night. Did you try to go online?"
"Well, yeah, but I couldn't figure out your password."
She snorted a laugh. "I should tink not. I often use it for my work."
"You know, you work too hard. You should think of changing employers."
"I'm happy wit my job. I enjoy it."
"But you could do better. Forgive me for saying this, Lena, but you aren't a young woman any more. Tracy Industries is taking advantage of you. Now . . ."
"James, I tink we should have dis conversation in de living room where we can talk comfortably." She thought she saw a look on his face as though he was going to insist on staying in the room, but it was gone so quickly as he glanced at the computer screen, that she decided she imagined it.
She closed down the game and put the computer on standby, then turned and headed to the door, not noticing that he turned back to the desk for a moment, then put something in his jacket pocket. He stood up and followed her into the other room, where they took the same seats as the night before.
"Okay, James. I tink you have a sales pitch you want to give me. Let's hear it."
"Oh, c'mon, Lena. You sound as though you've got your mind made up already. I prefer to say what I have to say to someone more receptive."
"You may be my brother-in-law, and as such, a member of the family, but I remember what you were like de last few times I saw you, and I don't know dat you've changed much since den." She paused. "But okay, I'll try to keep an open mind."
He settled himself more comfortably. "That's better. Now then, about two months ago, I was in London. Through a series of what turned out to be some very fortunate circumstances, I met a man named Giles Hightower. Since then, I've become pretty intimate with the family. I've seen their business, and I found out their needs. I told them about you, and they agree that you could be a vital part of it, perhaps as a link between their European and American interests. Your paycheck would probably be doubled, even tripled. And your workload would be much lighter. You would travel in style and be housed like royalty."
"What about my computer work? What kinds of challenges would I be given?"
"Challenges? Haven't you had enough of those? You're near retirement age, after all, although I know you have no intention of doing that. But working for Stellar Consulting would give you more time to relax, to spend more time with your family."
"I spend plenty of time wit dem. I don't need any more time to relax. It could be bad for my healt. I trive on challenges. I have no intention of dwindling into an old lady in a rocking chair, to be visited by one or anotter group of family members on rotating Sundays."
He held up his hands as if to ward her off. "Okay, okay. I just thought you'd be interested in having more of a personal life. I didn't mean that you're too old to keep doing the computer work you love. I'm sorry if you felt that I had implied that."
She calmed herself down. "I'm sorry, James. Look, are you hungry? I'm beginning to be, and I can make us some breakfast. I expect you at least want some coffee."
He thought about pursuing his pitch, but realized she probably wouldn't let him. So he agreed and she went into the kitchen. Soon the pleasing aroma of the coffee brewing wafted its way through the house. He'd gone into his room to shower, shave, and dress. By the time he went into the kitchen, she had breakfast ready.
They sat down and ate while chatting about nothing in particular. Lena offered to take her brother-in-law to the train station. He accepted and went to his room to get his things together. She put the dishes in the washer, and the food in the fridge, then went to her room and threw some clothes on, and they left ten minutes later.
When she returned, she showered and dressed, then cleaned up the kitchen. Finally she took the last cup of coffee, went into her home office, and restarted her computer. Now to test de modified program. But I'd better do my usual checks first. She started her virus checks to verify that nothing else had snuck into her computer and was startled when something was found.
She quarantined the program and found that Brains' modified scan was the one that caught it. Opening it in the isolated area, she began to study it. The discoveries she made within a short period shocked her. My God! Dis has de same signature as de one from Tin-Tin's email! She did a quick check and found that the virus had been planted that very morning.
James! she thought. But how? Why? Then she remembered something he said about the Hightowers.
Since then, I've become pretty intimate with the family.
She thought about it for a while and decided that James' gambling addiction was what had brought him to the Hightowers' attention. And that was why he tried to get her to leave Tracy Industries. Dey must have put him up to it. I know he can't create a basic program, let alone one as complex as dis. It sounds to me like de Hightowers aren't very etical people.
To corroborate that the two viruses were created by the same person, she installed the one Brains had sent her and ran it through the program she'd modified. To her great satisfaction, the program caught and isolated the second virus. She did some quick calculations and decided that everyone on Tracy Island would be sleeping. She sent Brains an email, attaching the specs of the modified program, and told him what had happened, and her conclusions regarding the creator of the viruses.
Now dere's notting left to do but wait.
Post by Hobbeth on 02/06/2005
  
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