The Unabomber's Capture
The voice on the other end of the line crackled with raw excitement. “What did you just say? You already have a suspect?”
Team Leader Skinner sounded so worked up that Yoo Jae-won could practically picture the man leaping out of his chair. And honestly, it made sense. To any rational person, the claim would sound impossible.
The FBI’s Unabomber Task Force had been formed back in 1985 after the first fatal package bomb in California. Eight years of operation, countless agents, and an astronomical budget later, they still hadn’t caught the guy. So when a computer analysis system that had only been running for ten days suddenly produced a suspect, skepticism was only natural.
“Yes, sir. I can confidently say the accuracy is over eighty percent, so please move as quickly as possible.”
“Understood. But to get a warrant, I need a logical explanation for how the suspect was identified. I read the fax Chairman Yoo sent over, but I honestly can’t make heads or tails of it. Explain it in a way that both I and the warrant judge can understand.”
Jae-won had already given a detailed briefing on the algorithm during his previous visit to the Unabomber Task Force in Washington DC. Of course, “detailed” was relative to his own standards. The experts present at the time had probably understood less than half of it.
“It’s not that difficult,” he began, this time simplifying his explanation as much as possible. “Everyone has unique linguistic quirks or habits in the way they write. Repeated grammatical errors, favorite phrases, that sort of thing. You could think of them as textual fingerprints left behind in the writing. The computer analysis tool I created extracts these textual fingerprints from the Unabomber’s writings, then searches through massive collections of documents—university theses, college bulletin board posts, and so on—to find similar patterns.”
“Ah! I understand now.”
Jae-won had explained it simply because he understood the algorithm perfectly. But understanding it and actually implementing it were two entirely different things. The speed at which results had been produced was itself a minor miracle.
Even if the Unabomber’s distinctive traits had been properly extracted, the sheer volume of documents produced by American universities every year was staggering. From Skinner’s perspective, finding a match in such a short time could only be described as miraculous.
In truth, it was a manufactured miracle.
Jae-won hadn’t artificially altered the algorithm itself. He had simply adjusted the search priorities. The system was set to begin its university document search with Harvard first, then prioritize any documents created from 1960 onward within Harvard’s archives. If nothing turned up, it would move on to UC Berkeley, and so on.
Knowing that the Unabomber had attended Harvard and had once been appointed as its youngest-ever assistant professor, Jae-won had optimized the search path in advance. The big data search engine had lived up to his expectations.
If even this setup had failed to produce results, the one who would have been embarrassed was Jae-won himself. Fortunately, that hadn’t been necessary.
“This is how Theodore Kaczynski’s paper was extracted. His whereabouts had been unclear, but it turns out he has a brother. When we asked the brother, he told us Kaczynski is living in a remote cabin deep in the woods of Lincoln County, Montana.”
This wasn’t just handing them information on a silver platter. This was shoving it straight down their throats. If the Unabomber Task Force failed to make an arrest with intelligence this good, they might as well turn in their FBI badges.
“Wow, that was fast.”
An impressed whistle escaped Jae-won’s lips as he watched the television. It had only been three hours since he’d sent over the big data analysis results. Montana was much closer to San Francisco than to Washington DC, where the Task Force was based. As soon as they received the warrant, the team had taken a private jet straight across the country, landed in Lincoln County, and immediately coordinated with the Montana FBI’s SWAT unit to raid the cabin.
By sheer luck, the SWAT team had burst in right as the Unabomber was building a bomb.
“We’ve just received new footage! Let’s take a look!”
Typical American broadcasting. Even though the video was somewhat grainy, it was broadcast without a single mosaic. The footage clearly showed SWAT agents storming the tiny cabin. Theodore Kaczynski’s face even appeared briefly on screen.
Technically he was still just a suspect. The trial hadn’t even begun. Still, the short one-minute clip was replayed multiple times with detailed commentary. The anchors even expertly explained how the bomb components visible on his workbench had likely been used to construct the devices.
“I guess the presumption of innocence doesn’t apply here, huh?”
“We’ll bring you updates the moment we receive them! Stay tuned to Fox News!”
“Stay tuned, my ass.”
Jae-won casually switched the channel to CNN. They were also running the Unabomber arrest as breaking news, broadcasting the same footage with commentary. The difference was that CNN continued the coverage without cutting to commercials even after new footage arrived. They were capitalizing perfectly on the gap while Fox was stuck in an ad break.
Watching this fierce competition for ratings, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
“Hmm… Maybe I should start my own broadcasting station?”
Through Nextcomcast, he had already built a cable network that reached across the entire United States. Nextcomcast did have its own channels, but they were mostly sports networks. He had spent a fortune securing major sports broadcasting rights, and the returns were substantial. However, the limitations of sports channels were obvious. When it came to shaping public opinion on important issues, they offered no help whatsoever.
To seize the initiative on major issues and exert some influence over public discourse, he needed a different kind of network.
“A news channel would be nice.”
With his resources, creating a news channel wouldn’t be particularly difficult. In capitalist America, there was no more effective tool than money. But even if he built a news channel, credibility couldn’t be bought with money alone.
“It would be perfect if a decent news network came up for sale.”
His preference for acquisitions and mergers over starting from scratch revealed itself once again. Since it wasn’t something he could act on immediately, he simply made a mental note and set the idea aside for now.
When he turned back to the television, he saw the Unabomber being dragged out of the cabin in handcuffs and bound with ropes. It looked like a news crew had followed the SWAT team and was filming from a distance. Since live broadcasting technology wasn’t advanced enough for a single camera to transmit directly, they were probably relaying the footage via a nearby broadcast van using tape.
The sight of the captured Unabomber finally loosened the knot that had been tightening in his chest. It was a strange feeling. Come to think of it, ever since receiving that package bomb, he had been under more stress than he’d realized.
“Now I can finally sleep with my legs stretched out.”
With the culprit properly arrested and a mountain of evidence pouring out of his home, it seemed safe to stop worrying about the Unabomber case. Feeling drowsy, Jae-won turned off the television with the remote and headed to the bedroom. It looked like he would finally get a good night’s sleep.
The next day.
Jae-won had slept in, but there was no rush. Tiffany was frantically preparing for her final exams, but that was someone else’s problem as far as he was concerned. His carefree attitude made Tiffany so envious that she even grumbled about it, eventually declaring she would try to get on the fast track too. However, after silently looking at the problems her advisor had given her, she gave up cleanly. She could tell at a glance how difficult they were.
Since this was something even Jae-won couldn’t help with, he suggested they go somewhere fun once her exams were over. Though the proposal was rather sudden, Tiffany readily agreed, and their call ended on a pleasant note.
Work was the same. Thanks to the well-established online task management system and organizational structure, sleeping in caused no major issues. Jae-won first turned on his computer, then headed to the bathroom for a shower. He dressed neatly and even styled his hair properly.
In the past, simple chatting had been enough, but at some point video meetings had become the norm. Even when working from home, he now had to maintain a presentable appearance as if he were going out.
Once everything was ready, he sat down in front of the computer. Naturally, the first program he launched was ID Talk.
ID Talk had changed beyond recognition compared to a few years ago. It now featured a complete graphical interface, and video chat functionality had been added. Recently, emoticons had been introduced as well.
Chat culture among modem users was widespread in America too, and emoticons had naturally evolved alongside it. At first, people combined special keyboard characters, but ID Talk turned them into actual icons that could be sent and received.
What made Jae-won shrug with pride was the fact that the addition of emoticons hadn’t come from his orders. The development team had proposed the idea themselves. The quality of the emoticons was also excellent. While they heavily resembled the classic yellow smiley faces, they were simple yet effectively conveyed emotions ranging from joy to sorrow.
It would be nice to add animated emoticons too, but that was impossible for now due to program size and internet speed limitations. Still, the idea of expressing emotions through icons was incredibly effective. ID Talk’s download numbers had shot up once again.
The designer who had come up with the idea received a generous bonus, of course. Ironically, that same designer ended up resigning not long after. The bonus had been large enough to equal winning several instant lottery tickets, so it was only natural that he started thinking about other possibilities.
The matter had been reported to Jae-won, but he didn’t make a big deal out of it. A talented designer had left, but the emoticons remained in ID Talk. Moreover, when considering the potential revenue from partially monetizing the emoticon feature, the bonus was hardly an issue.
Thanks to this, developers at ID Technology were said to be burning with creativity, eager to raise the quality of their respective programs even further.
Ding!
As soon as Jae-won logged into ID Talk, alerts began ringing nonstop. If these had been messages or chat requests from friends or members of the opposite sex, it might have meant he was the most popular person at school. But every single notification came from company employees.
With a small sigh, Jae-won clicked on the most urgent one first, as usual. That meant the first message he read today came from President Remington. It had both ‘Urgent’ and ‘Important’ tags attached.
“Hmm?”
As Jae-won read the email Remington had sent, he straightened his posture. Surprisingly, the email contained a document written by Remington himself along with an attached encrypted file. It was an official CIA document.
The dry, formal sentences essentially inquired about the big data search engine. The CIA wanted detailed information on both its performance and the system specifications required to run it. The decisive factor that prompted this letter was undoubtedly the nationwide broadcast of the Unabomber’s arrest, which had been made possible thanks to clues uncovered by the big data search engine.
“But this is faster than I expected?”
Jae-won had anticipated that other agencies would eventually reach out after the big data search engine was completed. From its demonstrated capabilities alone, it was clearly at a professional level more suited for intelligence or law enforcement agencies than for civilian use.
Still, he hadn’t expected contact this quickly. He had viewed the Unabomber case as a kind of showcase to prove the engine’s existence. He had assumed proper inquiries would only come after several more rounds of verification.
The fact that it was the CIA was also unexpected. He had thought the FBI, who had directly experienced the engine’s capabilities, would be first, while the notoriously clumsy CIA would be the slowest.
After organizing his thoughts, Jae-won immediately initiated a one-on-one video meeting with President Remington. He made sure to enable encryption, of course. Remington must have been waiting, because the chat window opened right away.
“Yes, I read it. I was genuinely surprised it was from the CIA.”
“How should we proceed?”
“Hmm. I’m in favor.”
Jae-won didn’t hesitate for even a second at Remington’s question. Ever since he had begun building the big data search engine—or rather, since he had first drafted his master plan—he had already established policies for situations like this. There was no need to waste time thinking.
“Is that so?”
Even through the monitor, Remington’s expression and tone carried a clear note of approval. Having previously worked as a police officer, Remington held a very positive view of public authority. While he often grumbled about the FBI, that was merely accumulated frustration from having cases taken away from him during investigations. Overall, he was someone who trusted the government and its institutions.
That was why he viewed the CIA’s official letter positively as well. Although the media often portrayed the CIA as the perpetual loser, he believed it was an organization that made significant contributions to national security. If ID Technology could support them with its technology and make money in the process, it seemed like a win-win.
Jae-won’s position, however, was slightly different. Rather than simply being positive toward public authority, his thinking was based on the premise that a similar system would eventually be introduced whether he participated or not. Since that was the case, he had long ago decided he might as well be the one to build it himself—killing two birds with one stone.
In this metaphor, “killing the bird” meant earning money through system delivery, while “catching the crab” referred to the numerous additional benefits that would come with it.
“Yes. So, President Remington, I’d like you to meet with the CIA.”
“Understood! However, I may have difficulty answering highly technical questions.”
“Of course, you should take the head engineer from the data center with you. Besides, the CIA executive you’ll be meeting probably won’t be particularly knowledgeable about IT either. The reason they specifically requested you, President Remington, is to prevent us from sending only technical staff. If our president attends in person, the CIA will have to send at least a director-level official to match the level of representation.”
“Also, we will absolutely not engage in any deal that only transfers the algorithm or program. If the CIA decides to adopt the big data search engine, tell them we can only sell it as a full package that includes us installing the entire cloud system.”
Only by delivering both software and hardware in a total package could additional revenue streams be created. He had no intention of handing over the algorithm alone, even if they offered him a king’s ransom.
“Understood. I’ll bring you good news soon.”
After wishing Remington luck, Jae-won ended the call. He then immediately opened the second message.
We're sending you our new Cryptonite. I hope this becomes an opportunity to elevate our cooperative relationship to the next level.
The message from AMD’s Jerry Sanders was extremely short, but its meaning was perfectly clear.
Cryptonite was the codename for AMD’s new CPU. By positioning their archrival Intel as Superman and naming their new CPU after the only weapon capable of defeating him, they were showing their determination.
It had been the same in his previous life. Yet they had never succeeded. They had only managed to seize the opportunity three times.
“This time might be different.”
The Cryptonite mentioned in the message was surely the new model incorporating AMD’s Coppermine process. Since this was the first time AMD was competing with Intel using the same manufacturing process, it was obvious how much effort they had poured into it. Naturally, Jae-won’s expectations were high.
The crowning achievement of HPC had been the CPU that utilized the Coppermine process. No one had been waiting for its release more eagerly than Yoo Jae-won.
“All the puzzle pieces are gathered. Now all that’s left is to put them together!”
Once the Coppermine CPU, dramatically faster than existing models, entered mass production, a revolution would sweep through the computer industry. Not only would the New Egg 2, which had only been accepting pre-orders, finally launch, but he would also be able to create entirely new types of products he had only imagined in his head.
“I hope the delivery arrives quickly.”
Since his regression, Jae-won had never waited for a package as eagerly as he did today. Although the Unabomber incident had left him with a considerable delivery trauma, Jerry Sanders had unknowingly cured it completely. That was an unexpected bonus.