Part 4
I began my REAL training the following Saturday. The entire training 'process' lasted about four months. We started off simple. The first unit of study: computers. Dick showed me the basics, and then he took me to a professional; the person who gave me my two katanas for my 16 birthday. I wondered what her real name was. I also thought Babs was kind of an awkward vigilante name.
It turned out her real name was Babs, short for Barbara. Dick said she was THE greatest computer hacker in the world. He didn't tell me she was crippled.
I guess it made sense. She was stuck sitting for the rest of her life. I'd probably be more involved in computers if something like that ever happened to me. Dick said that she used to be a great vigilante. I was glad that she still was able to be a great help. Especially to me.
Dick and I took a train to the middle of Gotham City, to meet Babs at her apartment.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was a computer. Then another computer. Then two more computers. There were six or seven computers in her apartment. Then she came over to me. She was young. A few years older than Dick, maybe. She had shoulder-length red hair, and glasses.
She didn't look the superhero type.
"Hello, Dylan. I am Babs. So, Dick says you want to join the fight for good," she asked, intentionally sounding corny. "After what he's told me about you, I agreed to help."
She immediately sat me down at a computer. For the next month, I would go to her apartment three days a week. After teaching how to do something, Babs would give me an assignment to prove that I completely understood the lesson, and knew exactly how to use it. The assignments started out simple. Computer-to-computer hacking. System programming. Stuff that most intelligent teenagers could do.
Then she started giving me much more difficult assignments. After teaching me more, and more, I'd have harder tasks. Hacking into a protected computer. Hacking into HER computer. Getting files from government databases. I'm fairly sure she planted a lot of those files. Most of them all said 'Congratulations' when I opened them.
My final assignment was the toughest. Babs said it was an evaluation of everything I had learned. I was to hack into what she said was the Bat-Computer, and send a message to Robin. Babs had already written the message. She said I couldn't read it yet, but would see the whole thing when it was sent.
I started at 11:30 in the morning. I sat at one of her computers for an hour and a half before I was even able to find the Bat-Computer. Once I found it, I sat there for another three hours. I was going around passwords, breaking locks, and finding shortcuts that weren't even there half of the time.
I was completely in the Bat-Computer at 4:45 in the afternoon. I sent the message, read it, and then shut down immediately.
The message was surprisingly short.
Trans opt. 74843
Message sent at 4:47:18 E.S.C.
Message From: Oracle
Message To: Bat-Comp. /Robin
Message Header: News Flash!
Message Reads:
Hey, Robin, it's your turn. As you can tell by reading this message,
my work is now done.
Later, Oracle
Message Ends
Trans opt. 74843
"What's that mean, exactly?" I asked, partially already knowing the answer.
"You're done with computer hacking. Robin is gonna pick up your training, now." She answered.
"What am I being trained in, now?" I asked.
"Logic."
I began my REAL training the following Saturday. The entire training 'process' lasted about four months. We started off simple. The first unit of study: computers. Dick showed me the basics, and then he took me to a professional; the person who gave me my two katanas for my 16 birthday. I wondered what her real name was. I also thought Babs was kind of an awkward vigilante name.
It turned out her real name was Babs, short for Barbara. Dick said she was THE greatest computer hacker in the world. He didn't tell me she was crippled.
I guess it made sense. She was stuck sitting for the rest of her life. I'd probably be more involved in computers if something like that ever happened to me. Dick said that she used to be a great vigilante. I was glad that she still was able to be a great help. Especially to me.
Dick and I took a train to the middle of Gotham City, to meet Babs at her apartment.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was a computer. Then another computer. Then two more computers. There were six or seven computers in her apartment. Then she came over to me. She was young. A few years older than Dick, maybe. She had shoulder-length red hair, and glasses.
She didn't look the superhero type.
"Hello, Dylan. I am Babs. So, Dick says you want to join the fight for good," she asked, intentionally sounding corny. "After what he's told me about you, I agreed to help."
She immediately sat me down at a computer. For the next month, I would go to her apartment three days a week. After teaching how to do something, Babs would give me an assignment to prove that I completely understood the lesson, and knew exactly how to use it. The assignments started out simple. Computer-to-computer hacking. System programming. Stuff that most intelligent teenagers could do.
Then she started giving me much more difficult assignments. After teaching me more, and more, I'd have harder tasks. Hacking into a protected computer. Hacking into HER computer. Getting files from government databases. I'm fairly sure she planted a lot of those files. Most of them all said 'Congratulations' when I opened them.
My final assignment was the toughest. Babs said it was an evaluation of everything I had learned. I was to hack into what she said was the Bat-Computer, and send a message to Robin. Babs had already written the message. She said I couldn't read it yet, but would see the whole thing when it was sent.
I started at 11:30 in the morning. I sat at one of her computers for an hour and a half before I was even able to find the Bat-Computer. Once I found it, I sat there for another three hours. I was going around passwords, breaking locks, and finding shortcuts that weren't even there half of the time.
I was completely in the Bat-Computer at 4:45 in the afternoon. I sent the message, read it, and then shut down immediately.
The message was surprisingly short.
Trans opt. 74843
Message sent at 4:47:18 E.S.C.
Message From: Oracle
Message To: Bat-Comp. /Robin
Message Header: News Flash!
Message Reads:
Hey, Robin, it's your turn. As you can tell by reading this message,
my work is now done.
Later, Oracle
Message Ends
Trans opt. 74843
"What's that mean, exactly?" I asked, partially already knowing the answer.
"You're done with computer hacking. Robin is gonna pick up your training, now." She answered.
"What am I being trained in, now?" I asked.
"Logic."