Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Mika.
Charlotte Turner, 48 years old.
Unable to bear my silence, she adjusted her glasses with a slightly trembling hand.
Her eyes, visible through the round lenses, were also constantly wavering.
But her lips were firmly pursed. Unlike Phantom, she was trying to maintain at least a semblance of composure.
“To be honest, I’m too old to go to prison.”
A British accent with a faint American twang.
This made her voice stiff yet somehow slightly soft.
“It’s not that I don’t know I have to pay the price. It’s pointless to make excuses now, but I don’t want to end my life like this either. I’ll do… anything.”
I could be sure that the Washington State accent was mixed in because of this woman’s career.
I took out the documents from the drawer.
These were the records of their lives that I had investigated on my own before they came flying in.
She majored in computer science at the University of Liverpool.
Joined Microsoft in 1998 immediately after graduation.
Retired in 2015.
Her position at the time was Principal Software Engineer.
“What was lacking at Microsoft?”
“……”
“You were even a Principal.”
I shook the documents and continued.
“Impressive. Windows XP, Office collaboration features, even the initial development of the Azure cloud platform all have your name on them.
What was lacking for someone like you to be illegally playing around with these young ones?”
Of course, I knew the answer.
This type isn’t unique to the IT industry.
They become so immersed in their work that they miss their chance to marry and just grow old.
Initially, they are recognized within the organization for their outstanding abilities and achievements, and they can rise through the ranks.
But as time passes, there comes a moment when ability alone can no longer cover the political realm of the organization.
That’s when the monster called burnout comes.
And only then do people begin the journey to find their true selves… or so they say.
This woman must have been one of those.
“You’re a K-POP fan?”
When I changed the subject, her startled eyes widened.
Her face began to turn redder, and she repeatedly tried to open her lips but stopped.
“That’s……”
She tried to say something, but her voice grew smaller and smaller.
“Just……”
Just like Phantom before her, her head drooped completely. That was the voice she barely managed to squeeze out.
“I just like the music……”
Hacking must be the same. It wasn’t about the money.
Just.
She tried it because she thought she could, and that’s how it started.
She would team up with young friends, sometimes laughing and chatting lightly, sometimes seriously cooperating to carry out the day’s missions.
In the process, she must have felt like she was reclaiming the lost time of her past.
Friendships or love that she had missed in her youth, finally.
But even so, at an age looking towards fifty…
‘She’s completely immersed in the role-playing of Mika, a genius hacker girl who loves K-POP?’
‘While doing things that could land her in prison for life if caught?’
Then, this woman suddenly twisted her body in her seat. Then, out of the blue, she shouted towards the door.
Very desperately.
“I’ll do anything, just don’t indict me! I came here on my own two feet as you asked.”
Ah, right.
That would be the most rational judgment for these people.
That sound wasn’t directed at me. These people still mistakenly thought they had been caught by a federal organization like the FBI.
No wonder they kept glancing at the windows and doors the whole time they were here.
As if the police would burst in and take them away at any moment.
“You still don’t understand, Mika?”
I clicked my tongue inwardly and said.
“This seat. This isn’t an interrogation, it’s an interview. So focus. Next question. If you were to attack me again, how would you attack?”
At that moment, I spat out at her confused face.
“This, now. Design it with your team members and submit it as a report. We’ll proceed with the Gray Box Test method.”
The Gray Box Test is when an attacker attempts to infiltrate the system with some information about the system provided.
So I was going to leave the seat so that these people could check my security system without feeling burdened.
“And I will return at this time tomorrow.”
* * *
Mika, Phantom, Sword, Shiva
The four of them were sitting in a circle on the floor in the corner.
It wasn’t a particularly comfortable position.
But because of the relief that they had avoided being thrown into prison right away, everyone’s expression was much more relaxed.
“Leader. Sword. Shiva.”
Mika called out each name and gestured for them to gather closer.
“Everyone heard, right?”
They might be getting eavesdropped on.
The hackers of Red Montage had no choice but to be careful even when Hyun-woo wasn’t there.
“We have to show our skills properly. Aside from what we’re told to do, we were defeated too easily. Aren’t you upset? Who are we? We shouldn’t have been defeated like that. So let’s show them who we are properly.”
“But, Charlotte.”
Phantom interjected.
“Look at him. Charlotte? What’s wrong. Am I too old for you to do things like before?”
Mika continued, laughing lightly.
“Anyway, going to prison at this age is more terrible for me than for you guys. I’ll be the most desperate.
So trust this old woman for once. But stop calling me ‘Charlotte’ and just call me Mika. Otherwise, I’ll only do as much as Charlotte, not Mika.”
“Uh… um… I……”
When Phantom hesitated and couldn’t continue, Mika slowly opened her mouth with a smiling face.
But unlike her warm smile, her tone contained sharp thorns.
“Honestly, Sword and I are upset. We never even imagined that Leader and Shiva would be digging into our backgrounds. We trusted you, but that was too much, wasn’t it? Thanks to you, we’ve all been dragged here like this.”
The personal information that Hyun-woo had taken back was created by Phantom and Shiva while investigating the other members.
“And if you were going to dig, you should have handled it cleanly. You were complete amateurs.”
When Phantom lowered his head and said nothing, Shiva stepped forward.
Shiva pushed her long hair back with her thin fingers and spoke as if she was frustrated.
“Leader, you just stay still. Old woman. Are we not giving preferential treatment to the elderly as you want and just doing it? Okay?”
“Okay.”
Mika answered satisfactorily.
“That was my idea.”
Shiva continued quickly in English with a strong accent.
“Phantom and I knew each other. We met at Defcon. But you guys don’t.
Kenen, that son of a bitch, brought you guys. So would we have had a chance to get to know you properly? No.”
Shiva crossed her arms and snorted softly.
“Besides. Honestly, Mika. You subtly looked down on us, didn’t you?”
“I did?”
“I knew it. The one who hit you never knows. Anyway, I understood after I found out who the old woman was.
You were successful at Microsoft, right? We’re the generation that grew up playing with what the old woman made. How childish must we have seemed to you?”
“I never treated you like that. I really……”
“Stop it.”
Phantom’s voice cut through the two of them.
He looked back and forth between Mika and Shiva and sighed deeply.
“Shiva and I were just… trying to create a community of fate. Because it’s our 3rd anniversary.
And there was also that Kenen thing. We thought everyone could trust each other if they knew each other. And at the same time, we were proving our skills to Mika… again.”
Phantom’s gaze was fixed on Mika.
“To be honest, we felt like amateurs every time Mika did something.”
Phantom’s voice grew softer and softer, but it was filled with sincerity.
“So we wanted to show something too. But it turned out like this.”
“Ahem. I want to say something too.”
Sword’s low, thick voice came in as if to stop the conversation.
He leaned his heavy body slightly forward and unfolded his defensively crossed arms.
“Isn’t this not the time to be arguing?”
Only then did everyone remember that Hyun-woo had said he would return at this time tomorrow.
Time was still passing.
The gazes of the four hackers exchanging glances began to change little by little.
Like the Red Montage from two days ago, sinister yet shining.
* * *
Mika sat in Hyun-woo’s chair and manipulated the keyboard and mouse.
Everyone was watching the scene from behind, saying a word or two.
That was the conclusion they came to.
When Mika was still tilting her head as if she was confused, Shiva spat out coldly.
“It’s definitely the FBI.”
It was something she could say because she had checked Hyun-woo’s security system.
“There’s no way a hedge fund would use an independent network. Even if we ignore the inconvenience, the configuration…
The only exception is the certified security gateway, but even there, the IPsec Protocol and TLS Verification are applied.
You’ll just get bounced if you try to connect recklessly.”
That wasn’t all.
“The firewall too. The first step is to filter out basic traffic with a Stateful Filter.
In the second step, DPI Technology thoroughly analyzes not only the packet header but also the contents.
It’s set up to immediately block any traffic that’s even slightly suspicious, is there really a need to go this far?”
“Who made this?”
Phantom said in admiration.
Shiva looked at Phantom annoyedly.
“I’ve said it how many times, it’s the FBI.”
Phantom scoffed at those words.
Before, his vision was obscured by the tension that he might be serving a life sentence, but not anymore.
As if he had witnessed a great treasure, a strange light sparkled in Phantom’s eyes.
Phantom said.
“The real amazing thing is the custom skill. And it’s hard for the rigid FBI to use custom Linux.
They’re still clinging to Windows servers. This was made by an individual. An individual.”
“Then it’s even stranger. What kind of individual can build a system like this? Is that person someone who can do that? No.”
Shiva’s voice grew louder as if she didn’t care what happened anymore. The situation itself didn’t make sense with any explanation.
She roughly swept her bangs up and said.
“It really doesn’t make sense. From the custom OS to the network structure.
To make such a perfect security system to this extent, alone, not even a team? What kind of genius programmer is he?”
At that time, a soft voice flowed out from Mika as if trying to calm Shiva down.
“Shiva.”
Mika said slowly.
“Leader isn’t wrong. You know. Large organizations don’t create such inefficiently complex structures like this.
Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t. Organizations always have to focus on uniformity and management efficiency.”
“That’s why it’s even stranger.”
Shiva shouted.
“A fund manager? That person isn’t a programmer or a hacker. But how can this system exist? There’s a limit to how much you can do.”
Mika took her hands off the keyboard and turned her chair towards Shiva.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
“That’s why it’s fun, isn’t it? This is really perfect. I’ve never seen a system like this before.
I can’t see any holes right now, no matter how much I look. It’ll take time. I don’t think a day will be enough.”
Shiva pursed her lips tightly. Mika’s words weren’t wrong.
Hyun-woo’s system wasn’t just frustrating because it couldn’t be penetrated.
It was so bizarrely perfect that it felt like its existence itself was impossible.
That was what was stimulating her competitive spirit.
“Yeah. It is fun.”
Shiva finally nodded.
But she still couldn’t hide her dissatisfied expression.
“But you know. I want to enjoy that fun, but it keeps popping up in my head. This isn’t just a puzzle.
Just look at the Zero Trust Model. A structure that suspects every connection even within the system?
Isn’t that really funny? I’ve never seen it implemented so perfectly like this. How can this be an individual’s work?
Is it just me? Sword, what about you?”
Shiva’s gaze turned to Sword. Sword scratched his nose and nodded.
“I think Shiva’s right too. Even a genius can’t do this much alone.”
“See? It’s 2:2. So don’t be so sure it’s an individual.”
“So you still think it’s the FBI? I don’t think even the FBI could make this.”
Phantom shook his head.
“Then it’s a higher organization.”
“There’s a higher one?”
“It’s right in front of you.”
“Even if there is. They’re going to all this trouble just for us? With the CEO at the forefront? What are we? Why. Really, why? I’m asking because I really don’t know, so tell me.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying all along.”
“So why do you want to believe so much that we’ve been caught by an organization?”
“Who wants to believe it? All the circumstances point to that. I’m saying we should think about the aftermath.”
“There’s no thinking about it. We’ve been caught. It’s over.”
“That attitude is the problem. Are you going to start crying again like before?”
“What?”
While Shiva and Phantom were arguing, Mika came outside with Sword.
The hallway was quiet with no one watching them.
Only the faint sound of typing from various law offices could be heard.
“Shiva’s more of a fighter offline. Isn’t she cute?”
Mika laughed, looking back at the door where the argument was getting louder. Above it, the metal letters shone in the light as always.
「 AlphaMind 」
Sword looked at the nameplate that Mika’s gaze had suddenly stopped on.
After a brief silence, Sword slowly opened his lips.
“…Charlotte. What will happen to us?”
“It’s gotten scarier, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. It’s like a work that popped out of the future.”
“Yes. That’s how I saw it too. It’s beyond current technology.”
“You often get that feeling when you face a real genius.”
“It was the feeling I felt every time Charlotte taught us…”
“Really, why are you like this too. If even you’re like this, then Shiva’s right.”
“Yes?”
“Did I really look down on you guys?”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“I was trying to get along with you guys in my own way. I’m sorry if you felt that way.”
“…I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“Mika.”
“Yes. Mika.”
Mika tried to say something more but just laughed it off.
That wasn’t the important thing.
“But the CEO……”
At her words, everything seemed to quiet down for a moment.
“Yes.”
As Mika’s expression gradually became serious, Sword’s expression slowly became heavy.
“Doesn’t he look even more like Jin when you see him in person?”
Sword stared at her blankly for a moment, then frowned.
“Mika.”
Mika’s gaze was directed at Sword’s hand. Even though Hyun-woo had left his seat quite a while ago, Sword’s hand was still trembling slightly.
Then Mika warmly held Sword’s hand.
“Let’s just focus on passing the test for now. If they were planning to do something to us, they would have done it already.”
Mika’s soft voice continued.
“So, don’t be afraid.”