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 Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 10:36 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:09 am
Log 1.
Date: July 15, 2132
Location: FPC Alderson, West Virginia
Betsy sat in her cell, head in her hands. She'd been here a week and already she was having nightmares. I don't deserve to be here, I'm not a criminal! Sure, she'd seen her fair share of cop shows, but real prison was nothing like television. Even though this was a minimum security facility, she was terrified every minute of every hour of every day.
And what had she even done? The trial had been short and the jury had only needed 5 minutes to convict. The government was really cracking down on renegade hackers. But, in her eyes, what she had done did not warrant prison time. Community service, yes. A fine, yes. But prison? She wasn't a thief, wasn't a murderer, she hadn't hurt anyone. A few strings of 0s and 1s had landed her in this hell hole. She should be going to college like her friends, should be out partying and being hung over for the next day's exam, not stuck behind bars! Just thinking about it prompted tears. But she swallowed them; she couldn't cry, not here. Here she had to be quiet. Here she had to keep her head down. Here she could not show weakness.
A rap on the bars startled her out of her depressed musings and she looked up to see a guard.
"You've got a visitor."
She stood up as he opened the door and escorted her down the hallway. A few of the other inmates looked up curiously as they passed, but most were disinterested. Betsy was confused. Who had come to visit her? Not even her own mother had made contact; she supposed her parents must be dying of shame. Good.
Betsy was led into a visiting pod and sat across the table from a middle-aged man in a white coat. The coat had an emblem on the breast pocket that she recognized instantly: CoreTech.
Great, now what have I done?
The guard left and the man sat for some time, quietly observing her. Betsy gazed sullenly down at the table, fidgeting with the hem of her prison-issue top.
"Elizabeth Nightingale." The man's voice was soft and kind, and when she looked up he was smiling gently at her. "Prison does not suit such a lovely young woman like yourself."
"Tell me about it," she muttered.
"That malware you coded gave our anti-viruses a heck of a time. I lost one of my best programs."
"Sorry..." What on earth did this guy want?
"It's fine. In fact, it's people like you who help us improve our AV designs." He paused. "May I call you Betsy?" he asked.
"Sure."
"Well Betsy, you have quite a track record." The man leaned over and placed a briefcase on the table in front of her. He opened it and pulled out a folder and, opening it, slid it towards her. Betsy took it warily and flipped through its contents. She was astonished to find that it contained records of every program she'd ever coded. Ever.
"How-" she choked.
"Oh we have our ways, CoreTech does. There's nothing we can't find out about a person if we set our minds to it...or our programs," he chuckled.
"I don't understand," Betsy cried, panicked. "What do you want with me? I already said I was sorry, I didn't mean for it to get AI, I didn't mean for it to go that far!"
"Calm down, calm down, I'm not here to accuse you," the man said gently. "I'm here to offer you a job."
Betsy sat, stunned. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, and she was sure the man could hear her brain grinding.
"W-what?"
"Betsy, we know you're not a bad person. You're a kid, you were just bored and you didn't have the right outlet for your creativity. The fact is your coding skills are beyond most university graduates, and we are in desperate need of talented young people like yourself. Now, I'm head of a revolutionary new project at the DC branch of CoreTech. We are trying to build the most advanced anti-virus ever seen. But, we only want former hackers. You guys know better than anyone how malware works and why people make them. If you'll agree to join my team I can have you out of here today. I'll set you up with an apartment near CoreTech, and, if I may say, the pay is nothing to scoff at. If you need time-"
Betsy cut him off. She'd heard enough and she didn't need time, that was for damn sure. "I'LL DO IT!" she yelled at him, barely able to contain her excitement. Not only was she going to get out of this pit, but she was going to work at the most advanced technology company in the world! It was a dream come true.
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:55 am
Log 2.
Date: September 23, 2140
Location: CoreTech Washington, DC
The two programs floated calmly on the screen, eyes closed as if they were sleeping. But they weren't; they simply had not been activated yet. They matched perfectly, as she had intended. Teal hair, silver skin, orange markings. Her twins. She was immensely proud of her creations; after all they were the first things she'd ever programmed that weren't malware. She had high hopes for the twin programs and she was confident nobody in CoreTech had ever coded any anti-viruses as advanced as these two. She only wondered how long she could keep them a secret, because if the Director found out he would certainly order their destruction. No, she had to keep them hidden until they could hold their own and prove their worth.
Betsy had been working at CoreTech for 8 years now, and the entire time had been spent working under the Director. She was grateful to him for rescuing her from prison, but her affection for the man ended there. He was egotistical and prideful. He was harsh to those whom he employed, and she sometimes wondered if the reason he hired ex-hackers was so he could belittle them, reminding them constantly of their past mistakes, and thus elevate himself. She disagreed completely with his methods, and one year ago had set out to create her own anti-viruses.
Abraxas and Xabaras were the names she'd chosen for them. Betsy peered at them, wanting to catch any last little glitches before activation. Finding none, she decided it was time.
Betsy smiled up at them as they opened their eyes and gazed down curiously at her.
"Hello Abraxas, Xabaras. Welcome to Earth."
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