Chapter Two.

Germany

Tim Murphy stretched his back languidly and pushed back from his chair. He let himself laugh in a semi maniacal manner.

A crumpled coffee cup struck the back of his head.

"If you're going to insist on cackling, at least share."

Tim smiled and spun in his swivel chair to face his partner on this monstrosity, Arby Benton.

Arby was eight years younger than Tim but scores better. Arby was a natural genius when it came to computers. The two had meet four years ago when Arby was assigned to Tim as his charge.

Arby of course soon surpassed Tim. Tim didn't really mind. He liked his job.

Arby and Tim were working on a new method of computer security. The two were assigned various computers or programs to hack into. Tim had been working on his current program for almost a week. It had been grueling, with their boss breathing down their necks to just give it up and say they couldn't get in. After all, if they couldn't get in, who could?

Tim tried to point out that hackers had no qualms to spending months on a single code. His boss hadn't wanted to hear it. Norman Cook was only interested in the bottom line. If he could approve this system, he could have them start mass production.

"Finished." He grinned.

"Bullshit." Arby proclaimed, wheeling his chair over to look at ths screen. "Damn. You're good. What's this one do for you?"

"Siphons off .0000003 of the interest given to any one with a last name starting in F from the Swedish Bank."

Arby smacked him on the head. "Enought Office Space. Besides you have it all wrong. It's-"

"Do you want to know or not?"

Arby smiled ruefully. "Lay it on me."

"Simple hacking onto a government computer."

"Are we assuming you have a week of free time with said government computer to hack it?"

"That's the beauty of this baby. The computer with the files is in the next room, protected with this program. The goal of this excercise is to be able to hack on from an outside source. No idiot is gonna let you walk in and play with thier computer for a week. And it really only takes three hours."

"Why such the delay?"

"Because you have to attach a peice of a gigabyte to the hard drive's outside motor on the left side."

"I thought you couldn't touch these until the code was cracked or proven unbreakable?"

"True my fine friend."

"So how'd you do it?"

He grinned some more. "The same way a true hacker would. I lied. I told them there might be a problem with the memory card. On this model, the insert drive for the memory card is paralell to the out side motor. To the right to be correct. Once you know the easiest way in, you simply have to figure out how to get your GB in there."

"How did you manage?"

"Easy. Fiddled around til I had something stuck in there, then attached the GB to a creditcard and jostled it until my 'obstruction' was cleared."

"And if it didn't stick just right?"

"Easy. If that doesn't work, screw it up enough that they have to call you in again the next day. Then you can take off the front and pretend the problem is your GB isn't there. Put it on and you saved the day."

"So that lets you get on?"

"That provides the nessecary bridge. It acts as a two way radio. Through that you can break in."

"How would the rest of the hacking world know about this?"

"I'm not the only genius out there. Sooner or later, someone else will make the connection. THen it's just honor among theives."

"I thought there was none." Arby commented as the pair wrote up their daily reports.

Tim laughed. "You wish."

They were walking towards the apartment they shared when Arby swore and pulled out his phone. Tim raised an eyebrow as his friend punched in a number with an American area code.

"Hey, Kel. I hope this isn't too early for you. But I just thought I'd wish you a happy Birthday. I hope you have a great one. I'll call later, when I have more time."

Tim waited until he ended the call to ask. "Who's Kel?"

"My best friend."

"I thought I had that title!" Tim protested playfully.

Arby grinned. "You wish. Kelly's been my best friend since ninth grade. She beats you."

"Why didn't you mention her before now?"

"Silvia is a bit jealous of her. Plus you'd make a big deal."

"Why would I do that?"

"She's Kelly Curtis."

"Holy shit!" Tim exclaimed, stopping Arby in the street. "The Kelly Curtis? The best Technical engineer consultant in the world? The one who holds about six top ten titles and has never made a mistake?"

"Never say never."

"Some friend you are! You're best friends with one of the most influential women in the world and you keep it from me."

"You're just saying that because you like her."

"Do not!"

"Don't deny it! I've seen how her picture goes missing from those magazines I bring home."

(A/N: Ah, gotta love computer nerds.