Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Chapter 60

Sunday, 13 March 2022 – 6:30 p.m. MST

Bryan rushed to finish his investigation. He had grown bored and was more interested in continuing with his hack on the Naidu network. He gathered a few messages that referenced Ramesh and sent them off to Valerie. Most of the day was gone and he assumed that he would not hear from Valerie or Quinn again until morning anyway. He looked at his watch. He had been at work for fifty-five hours. He considered going home for a couple hours rest, but decided to just catch a nap in his office once he initiated the software for the attack on Naidu.

He trudged toward the elevator then down the hall to his office. It was the only lit office on the floor. His heart was pounding as he collapsed into his office chair. He had noticed in the last few steps that his feet were burning, so he took a moment to remove his shoes and socks. He scooted the wet mass of footwear aside and spread his toes to allow the cool air to dry them.

He began. For just over an hour he hacked and tested then hacked again. He considered all of the possible attacks that he might use against the Naidu network to find a weakness. His first attempt would be a software probe, a simple network tool to identify potential weaknesses on any public-facing nodes.

Before he started the probe he reached over and pulled out a replica One Ring he had received as a twelve year-old. He and a few others had waited in line to watch the final Lord of the Rings movie for over a week to qualify for the replica gold rings. It was his good luck charm. He slid it onto the end of his left-hand pinky and started the probe. It worked exactly as he had expected. He watched the log file for a few minutes, then decided to lie down for a nap.

A few moments after closing and locking his door, Bryan was completely asleep. The probe program continued its work, diligently logging its results.