I don't own any of the characters from Lone Gunmen. I'm not making any
money from this story and all that jazz. Baby Bird is the other me. This
story is dedicated to Melissa Annette Jones who heard it first, and passed
my message on to Byers.
I met the Lone Gunmen at an underground Hacker's swap-meet almost four years ago, this was in the years before Byers. I was this scrawny fifteen- year-old kid with big theories on how the government was using computer records for surveillance purposes.
Since I was only a kid, nobody would listen to me. I had just finished my mid-morning rant, and was still being ignored by almost everybody. When across the room comes this 'weathered' type hacker in a leather jacket and fingerless gloves, Cindy, my older sister, had told me to be careful. She was the one who dropped me off at all of my hacker gatherings and covered my absence for our parents, her exact words, every time, were "You be careful in there Boo. (She always called me 'boo', ever since I was really little) "I'd hate to have to explain to mom and dad how you got killed rehearsing 'into the woods'. Anyone gives you any trouble, you give 'em the one two special I taught you, 'kay?" The one two special is a knee to the groin and a double fisted volleyball style punch up into the chin and neck.
I was tensing myself to deliver said special to this guy when he introduced himself, "I'm Melvin Frohike. I'm a fellow underground patriot."
I was wary for about the first five minutes, until I realized that he really wasn't any sort of threat and that we shared the same ideals. He took me to his booth, where he was selling guard dogs (a type of program that tells a hacker if there's anyone on their trail) I was impressed, good dogs are hard to program.
When I asked Frohike shrugged, "My business partner and I do them for fun. Langly is off getting a snack right now. But I want to see how good you are, try and shake one of Langly's guard dogs, with whatever hacking skills you have."
He sat me down at a computer. In about five minutes I had completely ripped apart the guard dog and gotten to the file that Frohike had told me to 'steal'.
I had just finished when a tall 'nerd' type hacker came up to the booth and sat down. The first thing he said was "Who's the kid?" I introduced myself as 'Baby Bird', my hacker handle, and Frohike said, "Langly, you know what she just did in five minutes?" Langly was puzzled, Frohike smiled that smug smile of his and said, "Put one of your dogs to sleep."
Langly was so shocked that he nearly choked on his soda, "Only two people have done that, and that was you and that damned Harlow woman."
That was when the three of us bonded. Langly and Frohike got people to listen to me for once, I was so used to being ignored by the top level Hackers, that I had no idea that I WAS one of the top level Hackers.
About two years later, they met Byers, I was ready to spread my wings and venture off on my own.
I was seventeen, and ready for some independence.
With the four of us all in the grassy knoll at once, there was a lot of invasion of territory, and arguments, two three and four-sided. At that time, I was also realizing that my feelings for Langly were deeper than I had first suspected, and I wasn't ready for that quite yet. We were very close, we had kissed a few times, but nothing more than that. I think that was part of the tension in the whole thing.
One day I just left. I left a program running in Langly's computer that wouldn't close, he would have to hack it. It was the message, "Baby Bird's gonna stretch her wings. Maybe I'll roost here again."
We lost contact after that. I got a message from Byers apologizing for pushing me away. I never responded.
Last week one of my very good friends told me that she had met a man named John Byers, I was surprised. I asked her to give him a floppy disk for me, on it was a message that simply stated that he didn't push me out of the nest, that I was okay, and that I didn't want him, or anyone, to have a guilty conscience on my behalf.
This morning I received an E-mail message from an anonymous address. The subject heading was 'remember the code.' The message was 'Baby Bird, please come roost.' I knew that it HAD to be from Byers.
I headed out to the Grassy Knoll. (It's been in the same place for years)
I've been sitting in my car for almost fifteen minutes trying to think of what I should say.
Nothing is coming to me. I walk to the door, my mind spinning, and ring the buzzer (twice, twice, then four times. It's a code that Langly and I worked out, and I assume it's the code the message told me to remember.)
I stand on the doorstep, feeling foolish the door opens slowly, four faces peer around at me, all of then with various expressions of surprise.
I recognize three of them, even though the years have changed them. The one I don't know holds out his hand to shake and says "I'm Jimmy, who are you?" Frohike opens the door all the way, "She's a friend Jimmy."
I hug everyone, even Jimmy. I hug Langly last He says, "You've grown."
I smile at the way he's resting his head on my shoulder, "Out, not up."
He smiles and holds me out at arm's length, "I noticed. We missed you. I missed you."
I can barely speak around the lump in my throat, "I missed you too. All of you. Except you Jimmy."
Langly's tone changes to mock scolding, "How come you never called to tell us how you were?"
I sigh and sit down, "Because you and Frohike taught me not to look back too soon."
Frohike sounds incredulous, "Two years was too soon?"
I smile, "No, two years was just long enough. Any sooner and I would've had to come back."
Byers looks serious, "Would that've been such a bad thing?"
Now it's my turn to sound incredulous, "Yes. Because if I'd been hanging out at the Grassy Knoll for the past two years I would never have met all the people I've met. I would have missed out on all the near death experiences I've had."
Frohike grimaces, "I wouldn't be so sure on that one. We've had our share of narrow escapes in the past two years."
We share our stories, we order a pizza, and we talk for a long time. After a few hours Langly asks if I've hacked any in the past two years, I say "A little."
Frohike gasps, "Oh, no." Langly looks worried, "she's lost her edge."
I sit up indignantly, "No I haven't."
Byers smiles knowingly, "An edge like she had doesn't just go away."
I relax a little, "Thank you Byers. Since you're the only person who thinks I can still cut it, how do you suggest that I prove it to the two Doubting Dotties over there?"
Byers makes a big show of thinking, "You could always go for a Hack Off."
I smile roguishly, "Oooh, good idea. I challenge you Langly." Langly is not at all surprised, "I'll only accept if I can have Frohike as my second."
I laugh, "You can have Frohike, if I can have Byers."
Jimmy pipes up, "I'll be the judge."
This causes much amusement. Jimmy gives each team ten minutes to load any programs that we might need into our own computer, then whichever team boots the other one off is the winner.
It sounds easier than it really is. It's a lot of fun.
We're going at it for close to three hours. Byers and I win, just barely. Langly is impressed, so is Frohike. By the time I get home it's almost time for me to leave for work.
It's nice to know that the guys are alright.
I might have to visit them again sometime soon.
I met the Lone Gunmen at an underground Hacker's swap-meet almost four years ago, this was in the years before Byers. I was this scrawny fifteen- year-old kid with big theories on how the government was using computer records for surveillance purposes.
Since I was only a kid, nobody would listen to me. I had just finished my mid-morning rant, and was still being ignored by almost everybody. When across the room comes this 'weathered' type hacker in a leather jacket and fingerless gloves, Cindy, my older sister, had told me to be careful. She was the one who dropped me off at all of my hacker gatherings and covered my absence for our parents, her exact words, every time, were "You be careful in there Boo. (She always called me 'boo', ever since I was really little) "I'd hate to have to explain to mom and dad how you got killed rehearsing 'into the woods'. Anyone gives you any trouble, you give 'em the one two special I taught you, 'kay?" The one two special is a knee to the groin and a double fisted volleyball style punch up into the chin and neck.
I was tensing myself to deliver said special to this guy when he introduced himself, "I'm Melvin Frohike. I'm a fellow underground patriot."
I was wary for about the first five minutes, until I realized that he really wasn't any sort of threat and that we shared the same ideals. He took me to his booth, where he was selling guard dogs (a type of program that tells a hacker if there's anyone on their trail) I was impressed, good dogs are hard to program.
When I asked Frohike shrugged, "My business partner and I do them for fun. Langly is off getting a snack right now. But I want to see how good you are, try and shake one of Langly's guard dogs, with whatever hacking skills you have."
He sat me down at a computer. In about five minutes I had completely ripped apart the guard dog and gotten to the file that Frohike had told me to 'steal'.
I had just finished when a tall 'nerd' type hacker came up to the booth and sat down. The first thing he said was "Who's the kid?" I introduced myself as 'Baby Bird', my hacker handle, and Frohike said, "Langly, you know what she just did in five minutes?" Langly was puzzled, Frohike smiled that smug smile of his and said, "Put one of your dogs to sleep."
Langly was so shocked that he nearly choked on his soda, "Only two people have done that, and that was you and that damned Harlow woman."
That was when the three of us bonded. Langly and Frohike got people to listen to me for once, I was so used to being ignored by the top level Hackers, that I had no idea that I WAS one of the top level Hackers.
About two years later, they met Byers, I was ready to spread my wings and venture off on my own.
I was seventeen, and ready for some independence.
With the four of us all in the grassy knoll at once, there was a lot of invasion of territory, and arguments, two three and four-sided. At that time, I was also realizing that my feelings for Langly were deeper than I had first suspected, and I wasn't ready for that quite yet. We were very close, we had kissed a few times, but nothing more than that. I think that was part of the tension in the whole thing.
One day I just left. I left a program running in Langly's computer that wouldn't close, he would have to hack it. It was the message, "Baby Bird's gonna stretch her wings. Maybe I'll roost here again."
We lost contact after that. I got a message from Byers apologizing for pushing me away. I never responded.
Last week one of my very good friends told me that she had met a man named John Byers, I was surprised. I asked her to give him a floppy disk for me, on it was a message that simply stated that he didn't push me out of the nest, that I was okay, and that I didn't want him, or anyone, to have a guilty conscience on my behalf.
This morning I received an E-mail message from an anonymous address. The subject heading was 'remember the code.' The message was 'Baby Bird, please come roost.' I knew that it HAD to be from Byers.
I headed out to the Grassy Knoll. (It's been in the same place for years)
I've been sitting in my car for almost fifteen minutes trying to think of what I should say.
Nothing is coming to me. I walk to the door, my mind spinning, and ring the buzzer (twice, twice, then four times. It's a code that Langly and I worked out, and I assume it's the code the message told me to remember.)
I stand on the doorstep, feeling foolish the door opens slowly, four faces peer around at me, all of then with various expressions of surprise.
I recognize three of them, even though the years have changed them. The one I don't know holds out his hand to shake and says "I'm Jimmy, who are you?" Frohike opens the door all the way, "She's a friend Jimmy."
I hug everyone, even Jimmy. I hug Langly last He says, "You've grown."
I smile at the way he's resting his head on my shoulder, "Out, not up."
He smiles and holds me out at arm's length, "I noticed. We missed you. I missed you."
I can barely speak around the lump in my throat, "I missed you too. All of you. Except you Jimmy."
Langly's tone changes to mock scolding, "How come you never called to tell us how you were?"
I sigh and sit down, "Because you and Frohike taught me not to look back too soon."
Frohike sounds incredulous, "Two years was too soon?"
I smile, "No, two years was just long enough. Any sooner and I would've had to come back."
Byers looks serious, "Would that've been such a bad thing?"
Now it's my turn to sound incredulous, "Yes. Because if I'd been hanging out at the Grassy Knoll for the past two years I would never have met all the people I've met. I would have missed out on all the near death experiences I've had."
Frohike grimaces, "I wouldn't be so sure on that one. We've had our share of narrow escapes in the past two years."
We share our stories, we order a pizza, and we talk for a long time. After a few hours Langly asks if I've hacked any in the past two years, I say "A little."
Frohike gasps, "Oh, no." Langly looks worried, "she's lost her edge."
I sit up indignantly, "No I haven't."
Byers smiles knowingly, "An edge like she had doesn't just go away."
I relax a little, "Thank you Byers. Since you're the only person who thinks I can still cut it, how do you suggest that I prove it to the two Doubting Dotties over there?"
Byers makes a big show of thinking, "You could always go for a Hack Off."
I smile roguishly, "Oooh, good idea. I challenge you Langly." Langly is not at all surprised, "I'll only accept if I can have Frohike as my second."
I laugh, "You can have Frohike, if I can have Byers."
Jimmy pipes up, "I'll be the judge."
This causes much amusement. Jimmy gives each team ten minutes to load any programs that we might need into our own computer, then whichever team boots the other one off is the winner.
It sounds easier than it really is. It's a lot of fun.
We're going at it for close to three hours. Byers and I win, just barely. Langly is impressed, so is Frohike. By the time I get home it's almost time for me to leave for work.
It's nice to know that the guys are alright.
I might have to visit them again sometime soon.