2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (20 page)

‘Then who hacked my computer and printed out that? Who sent the image of Martin? Who told me I was a credible suicide risk and that I had to get out of the house?!’

Eric finally looked worried. ‘A credible suicide risk?’

‘This could be some kind of elaborate trap to draw you out, or to implicate me further.’ Jessica put down her bag and hunted through it. At last she found what she was looking for and withdrew her gun.

‘
Heilige Scheiße.
’ Eric swore at the sight of the pistol.

Out of habit Jessica checked to see if the gun was still loaded – it was. ‘We need to get out of here – fast!’ she said.

Eric backed away, his eyes wide and transfixed on the weapon, before he switched them back to Jessica as though she were a live cobra, ready to strike.

An alarm sounded within Eric’s computer room and Jessica whirled in its direction, gun pointed, ready to shoot.

‘
Sich beruhigen
! Relax!’ Eric told her, before moving over to one of his computers to tap at some keys.

Jessica joined him to see what was happening.

‘
Verdammt
! This isn’t good.’ Eric’s fingers danced with dizzying speed across his keyboard.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Someone has breached my system. This is not possible!’ He began yanking out power cords left, right and centre.

As he did so, Jessica looked at his main monitor in shock. ‘Stop!’ she shouted at him and then hauled him away from his electrical demolition when he didn’t respond.

‘Look!’ she said, pointing.

He turned round. On the screen, within a luminous green window, were three lines of white text followed by a flashing cursor. It read:

Eric. Forgive my intrusion.

Jessica Klein. We need to talk.

DMI _

‘
Mutter, hab Erbarmen
,’ Eric said in awe.

Jessica glanced at him, confused by his sudden reverence. ‘What is it?’

‘DMI,’ he said as if that explained everything.

‘DMI?’

‘
Da Muss Ich
.’

‘Because I Must,’ she translated. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means we’re speaking to the greatest hacker in the world. The greatest hacker of a generation. He is a legend. A true ghost. A God amongst men. ’

Jessica felt tense. ‘What does he want with us?’

‘With
you
,’ he said. ‘I don’t know. Shall we find out?’

Chapter Ten

Jessica looked at the flashing cursor as if it were an unexploded landmine, armed and incredibly dangerous. This was the person who had hacked her home computer, not young Eric who stood with her now.

‘What else do you know about him?’ Jessica asked, as at Eric’s gentle insistence she sat down in front of his keyboard.

‘He is one of the most wanted men on the planet,’ Eric said. ‘Most people outside of underground circles will not have heard of him, although he does go by many other names. The GMRC have been after him for a decade, with little success. He is the only one who has been able to repel the Hounds. Well, that isn’t totally true; there have been many who have been able to fight back at the GMRC operators and intelligent code clusters, but out of them all he is the only one left standing. Or so it is whispered on the Deepnet. Many say he is from South America or Japan, but I think
Da Muss Ich
is German.’

‘What are his other names?’ Jessica said, still reluctant to begin a conversation with such an intangible and nefarious individual.

‘Deforcement Insidious. D’Force. Bic. Because I Can. Elusive D. There are many others, it depends which country you come from. The Japanese simply refer to him as
Oyakata
, or Master.’

‘Hang on.’ She recognised one of the names. ‘You don’t mean B.I.C. the cyber terrorist do you?’

‘That is what I said. Bic. Because I Can. Although that is what he is called in America.’

‘Oh my God, I think I have heard of him. A hacker called B.I.C. stole millions of dollars from multiple banks about eight years ago, but the U.S. government said they’d caught him. They exposed him, his photo, background, everything.’

Eric gave her a knowing smile. ‘That is what they wanted everyone to believe. They couldn’t let the public think there was someone running around stealing that much money and getting away with it. It would give other people ideas. He also devised a combined attack on the Chinese government three years later, stealing secret documents and codes. There are many other successful hacks he is credited with, plus the greatest infiltration ever – a hack into the GMRC archives themselves. That particular incident resulted in a massive virtual flooding of the system four years ago. Whatever he found must have been big, as the kick back was unprecedented; Deepnet hasn’t been the same since and proactive hackers are a dying breed.’

‘How do you know so much?’ she asked. ‘You’re so young.’

‘I started getting into hacking when I was twelve and haven’t looked back since. It’s my life. I’m not the greatest; I just dip into Deepnet and back out again. I did do some local hacking and even some national stuff when I was younger but, as I said, Deepnet and the Surface Web is different now; more dangerous for people like me to operate.’

Jessica, still staring at the monitor, digested what Eric had just told her. An international terrorist, that’s who she was relying on to help her, to give her the truth she was now closer to than ever before. Eric’s disturbing news on the world’s resources could well be what the GMRC was trying to hide, but it still begged the question why. Why were they transferring critical food and water supplies away from the populace and, just as importantly, where was it going to?

‘Are you going to answer him?’ Eric said. ‘He’s still waiting.’

Jessica rested her fingers on the keys and began to type.

Who are you? Eric says you are
Da Muss Ich
but I think you’re an international terrorist, a wanted criminal.
Jessica hit Enter and waited for a response.

You are both correct _

Then why should I trust you?

The reasons are many. Your options are few _

‘Of course we can trust him,’ Eric said, reading over her shoulder, his excitement plain to hear. ‘Ask him what he wants to talk about.’

Why do you want to talk to me?

‘That’s not what I meant,’ Eric said, sounding exasperated.

‘Look, neither of us really knows who we’re speaking to,’ she told him. ‘He could be the GMRC for all we know. Let’s just be careful, okay?’

Eric muttered something in German that she didn’t quite catch.

You are well known, Jessica Klein. You have a following. People listen to you when you talk. You are the conduit to the people _

Why do you need a conduit, and why me? There are plenty of other newsreaders out there.

I saw your broadcast, Jessica Klein. You have power, a presence, motivation and are known the world over. You are the perfect one, the only one to bring truth to the people _

What truth?

I cannot tell you the truth. You need to see it. Document and record it _

And then what happens when I have seen this truth?

I will release The Playground _

‘What the hell is The Playground?’ she said in frustration. ‘This cryptic cloak and dagger charade is getting old fast.’

‘The Playground is supposedly a part of Deepnet that is free from all other digital influences,’ Eric explained. ‘It operates like a single bubble in a sea of liquid. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out. This bubble, however, can disintegrate and reappear anywhere at any time, which is why it is impossible to track, hack or intercept. Whoever controls The Playground is able to produce massive amounts of pristine code, unaffected by hidden programmes or operators.’

‘Supposedly?’ Jessica felt way out of her depth.

‘I thought it was just a myth.’

‘Obviously not.’

Eric nodded and looked as though he was in shock.

‘So what happens if it was released, this Playground?’ she asked.

‘Its effects, if it was released into Deepnet and beyond into the Surface Web, would depend upon what it contained inside. That’s its main weapon; no one knows what would happen. It would be a law unto itself.’

She typed another message.
You mean to expose the GMRC and whatever it is they are hiding from us?

Yes _

And you will use whatever I record and witness to be part of the exposure, to give credence to your message?

Yes _

She hesitated.
Where do you want me to go?

Stuttgart to meet a GMRC insider _

And he will take me to see for myself what the GMRC is hiding from us?

Yes. He works on a classified programme _

Will this be dangerous?

Yes _

I have a family to think about, what makes you think I will do as you ask?

You know as well as I that your family and the rest of the world’s population will be starved to death within two years. Eric’s observations are correct. The world’s resources are secretly being eroded. To ensure your family’s survival you must do anything I ask. Besides, either way you will both be leaving soon anyway _

Why would we be doing that?

The GMRC are coming _

What!? How? When?!

I have access to local GMRC transmissions. They have scoured the library. They know who you are. They know someone is helping you. They are interrogating the programmes within the library system. It will only be a matter of time before they query the German government’s big data servers, they will track you down within the hour. Tell Eric to plug his printer back in, I have some instructions for you both. It is time to move _

Eric didn’t need telling twice; he was already reattaching various plugs to their respective sockets. The printer hummed to life and spewed forth a sheet of paper. Eric snatched it up.

‘What does it say?’ Jessica said.

‘Instructions to get to a safe house, and information on how to keep in constant communication with him during our journey.’

‘What about this place?’ She indicated his plush home.

He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Easy come, easy go. This is way more important than a nice house. We could be changing the world, saving lives. This is bigger than big. It’s as big as it gets.’

Eric handed the paper to her and then rushed off to start gathering supplies together. Jessica read the sheet and then typed one more line into the computer and hit Enter.

I’m trusting you, Bic. Do not let me down.

The truth shall set you free, Jessica Klein _

A few seconds after the last message displayed, the screen went blank and shut down. One thing was for sure; she had more reasons to trust Bic than the GMRC or the authorities. Jessica knew the risks involved, but this is what she did. This is what she was born to do. If she couldn’t accept this challenge as a reporter then she might as well give up now. Whatever it was the GMRC were hiding, it was big, massive. If what Eric had told her about the resources was true, and she believed it was, then her family was as good as dead if she didn’t do something about it. In fact, the whole world’s population was as good as dead if she didn’t do anything about it. She had to find out what was going on and help this DMI, Bic or whatever his name was to expose the truth, whatever it might be. If Bic wanted to play games, then she would just have to follow the rules until she had what she really needed; the information to protect her family. After that, she would concentrate on exposing the GMRC itself, with or without Bic’s help, perhaps changing the game in her favour in the process.

♦

In less than thirty minutes Eric had disassembled all the equipment he deemed too valuable to leave behind and loaded up his van with that, and other cardboard boxes full of clothing, food and drink. Following the instructions Bic had provided, Eric connected up some odd looking pieces of electrical equipment and positioned a small touchscreen in the middle of the van’s dashboard. He tapped a few keys on his computer, the screen glowed into life, and Bic was once more in direct contact with them.

Time to go Eric _
the screen read.

Eric started the engine, activated the garage door and drove out into the freezing night.

♦

Jessica slept for the first few hours of the journey as they travelled south-west down the E51, a route within the European international road network. She woke to the sound of Eric singing along to a German pop song.

Frowning at the noise, she stretched out her back, which had cramped up during her sleep. ‘Where are we?’ she asked, her voice groggy.

‘Approaching Nuremberg.’ Eric looked over to her. ‘Have a nice sleep?’

‘Has our mysterious friend been back in touch?’ she said, ignoring his question.

‘On and off. I’ve opened up a voice command our end so we can just speak and he will hear what we say. Just press this button,’ he pointed to one side of the touchscreen, ‘when you want him to hear us.’

‘What did he have to say for himself? Anything interesting?’

‘Some, yes.’

‘And?’ Jessica said, when Eric failed to elaborate.

‘Oh, yes, sorry. Well, he says he has been following both our movements and helping to hide our tracks from prying eyes. He’s been aware of my activities within Deepnet for a couple of years. Fancy that,
Da Muss Ich
taking an interest in
das Gespenst
!’