Sylvester stared at Walter as he'd plugged in five separate power supplies, he was completely confused. One of the benefits of laptops was portability. He'd been curious when Walter ran electrical cords from four different breaker plugs.
"Why do you need five power supplies for your laptop?" Sylvester asked quietly.
"Because, in order to crack Homeland's server we'll need power. Only 4 are for the computer, the other is for the cooling system." Walter told him. "My so-called laptop is more than up to the task but no battery would last long enough with the amount of power the processors will draw to run."
"Processors?" Sylvester frowned and then watched Walter pull his computer out of the bag and set it on the desk before hooking up the power supplies to it. It was nearly eight and a half inches thick and didn't include the separate cooling system. "You call that thing a laptop? What do you have inside that case?" Sylvester was shocked.
Walter smiled as he connected the cooling system to the computer and then turned it on. The whine of the separate cooling system was quite noticeable.
"No, I call it the demon. I custom built it. I put in four separate motherboards sporting sixty-four bit processors. I then cross linked and networked them all together. Combined they push eight petaflops. I've got five hundred and twelve gigabytes of ram with four hard drives with six terabytes of storage space, each chained together." Walter told him as his personal OS came up.
"You custom wrote your own OS?" Sylvester asked while still in shock over what he had done to his computer.
Walter just nodded.
"Had too, nothing out there can take advantage of this setup. And then there are side benefits as well. No viruses or trojans to worry about." Walter smiled. "Not to mention all the hardware advances I had to make. Coming up with a way to crosslink all of the bus lines to handle the extra memory."
Working with his own system Walter blew through Homeland's server in a small fraction of the time it took him with Sylvester's laptop.
"Do you think I could test drive this beast?" Sylvester asked quietly.
Walter chuckled.
"We'll see." Walter finally said as he paused. He looked puzzled as he examined the information being reported back to him. He looked up to Cabe. "This has been very carefully crafted to make it look like Molina was behind it."
"Well I'm glad to hear someone thinks I am innocent." Adriana Molina said as she walked on in before Katherine Cooper.
Paige looked up along with everyone else before she stepped forward.
"Director, I'm Paige Dineen." Paige introduced herself as she extended her hand.
"Adriana is fine Paige. It is good to meet you in person." Adriana told her as she shook hands with her.
"Centipede, Adriana Molina." Katherine introduced her. "We had a long talk and I am convinced she is being set up just as Walter was being set up."
"I hope you are documenting what you are discovering as you discover it. So we have a chain of custody." Adriana asked Walter.
"Recording screen." Walter told her.
"Who would gain the most by trying to set you up?" Paige asked just as Walter started to ask the same question.
"I'm not sure that is the most accurate question. Who would want to see me fall might be better." Adriana told her.
"Very well, who would want to see you fall the most then?" Paige grinned.
"The same one who blacklisted Cabe." Adriana told her before everyone looked to Cabe.
"That was private." Cabe said as he turned red.
"Cabe, someone is coming after me and most likely the same person. Your team needs to know the variables." Adriana told him.
Walter stood as he slid his hands into his pocket thinking.
"Walter?" Paige asked, seeing signs he was getting mad.
"Cabe, we need to have a conversation, now." Walter told him as he turned and began walking towards the kitchen.
"Uh, Walter, you are still connected to their servers. This is going to give them a chance to catch you." Sylvester told him.
"I'm safe, Sly." Walter said as he continued to walk.
Everyone watched him walk off and Paige slowly turned and walked after him. Cabe sighed and walked along behind them.
"More secrets Cabe?" Walter demanded as quietly as he could as he spun around to confront Cabe.
"It isn't like that son, this is about me. Not about anyone else." Cabe told him trying to head off his anger.
Walter started to rebut him but Paige held up her hand.
"Cabe, I understand you don't see it that way, but surely you can see in this instance, that isn't true. Walter has been targeted now, by someone within Homeland. One of the big directors has been targeted as a scapegoat for it. Whatever problem this person has with you, we need to know so we can investigate if it is them that is causing things to bleed over into Walter and Centipede. So no, it isn't just about you now. We need to know." Paige told him as gently as she could, but the steel in her voice was undeniable.
Cabe hemmed and hawed a few times before he finally nodded.
"Fine, you're right. I'm sorry Walter, but until we knew this it didn't have anything to do with you guys. It was a personal matter between me and director Merrick." Cabe told them.
"Head of Homeland director Merrick?" Paige asked in disbelief.
"The one and the same." Cabe told her.
"Okay, well let's go rejoin the others and get through this then." Paige suggested.
"Cabe, no more secrets." Walter told him.
"Walt, if I know something will have an impact on you, I'll let you know. I promise. But are you prepared to make the same promise?" Cabe asked as he held his hand out.
"I take my family's well being seriously, Cabe. If anything I've done or do can harm them I will always come forward about it. I will also use every tool I have to ensure they are safe." Walter told him as he clasped his hand. "That includes Paige, Ralph, Happy and you if I need to say it."
"Can I continue now?" Adriana asked sarcastically.
Cabe just nodded.
"A few years back Cabe got into some hot water with Merrick. Merrick was making Cabe's life hell with one crap job after another. Hoping to make him quit. I stepped in and gave Cabe some cover. I'm actually responsible for his forging the relationship with Centipede and Homeland. Merrick has been pissed about this for all this time." Adriana told them.
"That's about seventy five percent true." Toby quipped.
"It is one hundred percent true." Adriana told him. "But the reason I did it…wasn't just to help Cabe. It was to have a team like this for rogue agents. Espionage is a huge industry. Agents are bought all the time. I need people I can trust and who can do what no one else can." Adriana told them as she sat down. It was why I suggested to Mark that he take a leave of absence from Centipede to work on his cure to save Megan. I even floated the idea of bringing Walter into the mix."
"You wanted Walter in Centipede?" Cabe asked with disbelief.
"Who else has the skills he has? Computer tech is growing by leaps and bounds. Chasing cyber criminals is getting harder and harder. If who I think is heading this up, there is no way to get them. But we can get their throat. That's Merrick. And then we can begin weeding down the ranks within Homeland." Adriana told them.
"What about his record?" Sylvester asked.
"What record? No one has ever proved anything he's done." Happy laughed.
"Exactly. The biggest threat to cyber security has never been caught. And if he is working for us that gives us the advantage." Adriana smiled at Walter.
Walter's rig began beeping and everyone looked as Walter moved over to it.
"Someone pick up on your invasion?" Sylvester asked nervously.
"No, someone is changing data." Walter told him as he sat down and watched.
"Walter?" Paige asked after he'd sat there for several minutes.
Walter grinned as he began typing. And his grin got bigger.
"I don't like this look, this is a bad look." Toby told everyone as he backed away.
"Vadat Talai." Walter said as he looked up at Paige.
"The Vor Collective guy?" Happy frowned.
Walter nodded.
"Apparently he is one of Homeland's tech specialists now. If he is part of the best Homeland has to work on cyber security no wonder you are losing." Walter smirked.
"Well not everyone is as good as you Walt." Happy reminded him.
"True enough but this guy, that's like asking Toby to become a field agent. You don't waste talent on something they aren't good at." Walter added the last so as not to demean Toby in front of Happy.
"What's the Vor Collective?" Paige asked Happy.
"A group of genius wannabes." Happy told her.
"Uh, they are like if Mensa had its own Mensa. They are some of the top minds in the world." Toby told Paige.
"You call that genius wannabes?" Paige asked.
"Compared to us? Hell yeah. Their brightest is only a point or two higher than Toby. The next closest ones drop drastically." Happy told her. "Though I will say they have a few people who are brighter than I'd like to admit. Wait until they find out Walter is working with us. You'll hear the howls of anguish as far away as San Francisco." Happy laughed.
Paige looked away at the mention of San Francisco.
"So this Vadat is dirty?" Adriana asked.
"Definitely. He just altered Homeland's log to show you in your office when the email was sent. Instead of at the gym where you were. Apparently the genius forgot to do it originally." Walter told her as he continued to work.
"Can you prove that?" Paige asked.
Walter nodded as he kept working.
"I'd captured the files before he started this. It is why my rig beeped. I'd attached a sniffer to it in case someone tried to access it. I'm still rebuilding some of the original system files to find out where the email originally came from and when." Walter smiled at her.
"How long?" Adriana asked.
"About twenty hours. I could speed it up a bit, but that would draw too much of the CPU's resources at Homeland and it might help someone find me in the system." Walter told them.
"Then don't speed it up. Better it take a little longer and we get it than to be found out and who knows what measures they take to stop us." Paige told him.
"You're the boss." Walter smiled at her.
Toby sat on an old crate back in the back of the Garage not too far from the bathroom. He looked up as the door opened and Paige stepped out.
"Hey boss." Toby said softly and gestured as she looked up.
"What's up?" Paige asked as she walked over to him.
"I noticed something earlier, a little suspicious behavior if you will." Toby told her.
Paige frowned.
"From Molina?" Paige asked.
Toby shook his head and pointed to her.
"Me? What could I have done?" Paige asked puzzled.
"San Francisco." Toby said and immediately grinned seeing her cheeks flush. "Aha, see, what's the deal with San Francisco?"
"Nothing that concerns you or Centipede." Paige told him and turned to walk away.
"Just mentioning the city causes a flush on your face and an avoidance of it. In our line of work, we need to work on anything that can distract you like that." Toby told her.
"No." Paige told him and walked off.
"Alright guys, quitting time. Go, rest, recharge and be ready tomorrow when we have the data we need." Paige told everyone.
"Well just a minute Paige." Toby stood up. "As a company we got something to put up for a vote."
"Toby." Paige said warningly.
"What's going on?" Walter frowned as he stood up.
"Centipede was founded on a simple principle." Toby told everyone. "Ever in the light of truth. And one of our guidelines for that is, that anything that can cause an emotional issue has to be discussed. To ensure we always work at full capacity."
"Toby, I'm warning you." Paige told him.
"Since this appears not to be Homeland related, I'm asserting my authority as head of Centipede. Where are you going with this Toby?" Walter demanded.
Toby became a bit nervous at that, but forged on.
"Earlier something was said in passing and it disturbed Paige. I of course approached her about it privately, but she refused to talk about it. So I'm calling for a vote." Toby told them.
"Fine. I quit." Paige told them and grabbed her purse and sweater.
"Hold up Paige, I'm going with you. Enjoy trying to figure out who is messing with Homeland guys." Walter told them coldly as he got ready to shut down his computer.
"Wait, you can't just quit like that." Toby told them both. "We have rules."
Walter looked up.
"Yes, you have rules. The rules do not say we can't quit. I don't know what you saw or what it is about. But I had a requirement to do this, I needed Paige to help me. You want to chase her away because of your incessant need to know things you aren't entitled to? Not to mention the issue of violating the privacy of my home by snooping around? I'm not staying." Walter told him as he moved the mouse over to shut down the computer.
"Paige, Walter, wait, please don't quit. I don't know what Dumber saw earlier and I don't really care. But clearly both you and Walter are voting no and I'm voting no. That's a majority and you don't have to talk about it unless you want to. If it is something you want to talk about, then talk to Walt if you trust him or someone else but the issue as far as Centipede is concerned is closed." Happy told her sincerely.
Paige smiled.
"Happy, thank you, I appreciate your support. I didn't want to quit…and Walter does know about it already. It was just a time in my life that I wasn't exactly proud of allowing myself to be pushed around in. But at the same time, knowing what I know now, I'm glad I did." Paige told her.
"Enough said. We all have our history." Happy nodded and turned and walked over to get her things.
"Walter, Mom is on the phone." Megan called over the Loft railing.
"And she wants to talk to me?" Walter asked while his face clearly said, really?
"Walter, you've got to find some way to make things better between you." Megan wheedled.
"Why do I have too? I'm not the one that ignored her. I'm not the one that supported her biggest abuser her whole childhood. I'm not the one who wouldn't even stand up to my sibling while they berated her. Where was she when I was going through hell over the bombing? Dad called me a monster in front of her…Like I knew this was what they wanted me to design the software for. No, I won't." Walter told her as he turned away.
Megan sighed.
"Walter, Dad is dying." Megan said softly.
Walter shrugged.
"He said I was dead to him a long time ago. Let it go." Walter told her.
Paige looked from Walter to Megan.
"What's wrong with him?" Paige asked softly.
"Cancer. Someone dumped an organochlorine compound on the farm a few years back. Dad didn't know what it was and fell in it when he was trying to investigate it." Megan told her.
Paige looked to Walter.
"Walter, this is serious. Obviously what your parents did has hurt you deeply, maybe you should consider it, before it is too late." Paige told him gently, as she walked over and wrapped her arms around him. "My Mom was a horrible person Walter, but if she was dying, I'd want a chance to say goodbye at least."
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Things are about to get emotional for ol' Walter!
Railman - Yep, Walter is pretty amazing. lol And here Toby stepped back into it again...*sigh*
Lucy - So happy to see you catching up! hehe Yeah...he definitely was not a good guy for the last 15 or so years. Many things he's done and like the attack he does deserve some jail time! But not for the reasons the attack or Drew being attacked. Hopefully he'll keep embracing the new him and maybe try and undo even more of the damage on Patrick. I think Walter and Ralph's relationship will always be something special, whether on the show or in fanfiction! Oh man...if Happy found out Toby saw the videos...I think she'd have pulled the whole "brave heart" on him. lol It was a pretty good cliffhanger huh? lol At least it fell over Christmas and everyone only had to wait a day. So glad you enjoyed me twisting the pilot into it! Mark is desperate to find a cure for Megan, if it wasn't for the need of money I think he'd have just closed CP to focus on it. Your suspicion looks to have panned out! lol Glad you enjoyed it...he definitely outsmarted himself. lol Quintis did enjoy a nice rendezvous! Yep, Paige seems to have embrace Walter fully.
Loube - Yep, Paige wasn't having any of that! It might get repaid...And now you know what Molina is up to...and it isn't in setting Walter up! lol Glad you enjoyed the Eek! lol Well now...wouldn't that make a pretty picture! lol Definitely would have to make some changes to the house with Ralph around. And my guess is, Walter wouldn't let those portraits be seen by anyone other than himself. lol Paige said "Definitely got to include sprinkles and extra sauce, but don't forget about the whipped cream." She seemed to be eyeing a cat of nine tails as she said that so I didn't ask her to explain further...I don't think there is a limit for Walter, if he had a better handle on emotions. Look what he did in the show studying just a bit about Shakespeare. He can definitely do some amazing things with that brain! hehe You're welcome. I'm just not sure how much to lead with it though. So maybe I won't...too much ruins the surprise and not enough makes it boring. lol I have been enjoying writing again. I finished chapter 66 of Callan and about halfway through 67. I'm hoping I can finish 2003 by chapter 70. We'll see.
JerBr23 - You just used Toby and wise in the same sentence...I'm not sure it works that way. LOL Glad you enjoyed how she stood up! Seems you and LouBe are on the same boat with the photography! lol With Ralph around, can't exactly be everywhere! lol And I am sure they would make the modeling time very fun! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim