Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 23: The Tech Team
Desmond, Careen, Tim, and Luke
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With gratitude, Bill
Last week, in chapter 22, Holly and Takeda probed the dark web for clues
Chapter 23: The Tech Team
The tech team members walked with their tails between their legs back to the development corral after the dressing down by Christo. They were muttering about him as they passed Arthur in the hallway, but that was okay. Arthur was like one of them in spirit; they knew he had their backs with higher authority. In fact, Arthur used to be one of them and never aspired to be anything more. His new position was inevitable.
He flashed them a shaka, symbolizing things would be okay, but it was clear to them that he was worried.
Not soon afterward, the team started an in-depth discussion of next steps. That involved loud, aggressive conversation and hurried drawings on a digital, translucent pane in their workspace.
Desmond was currently leading the exchange.
“I’m saying we must give Christo something to go on. But let’s consider a proactive measure as well. The only semi-offensive tactic that we have.”
Careen spoke up, “Des, we understand your rationale. It feels like a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, though. One that’s untested and would require a lot of coordination. Not to mention dollars.”
Careen wasn’t the newest team member, having been with them for two years. She was never shy about her opinions. It was part of what got her hired, beyond her coding skills and the fact that convicted hackers like her got time served for working on projects like this. She was the walking stereotype of a retro cyberpunk. The close-cropped hair on half of her head opposed long, angled, bright blue locks which hid one of her eyes. Piercings through her lip, nose, and eyebrow completed the look. She wore a studded leather collar with 01101000 01100001 01100011 01101011 01100101 01110010 cut into it. Binary for the word hacker. Her vintage Ramones concert shirt didn’t quite reach the torn jeans that exposed a portion of a large back tattoo.
All heads turned back to Desmond, who took off the opaque glasses he always wore, exposing the electric blue of synthetic eyes, which contrasted with his dark skin. It was an unconscious tell, something he often did when anger got the better of him. He knew displaying his eyes was unnerving, as much for their color as for the technology connecting them to the web.
“Careen, if you’re hearing me, and I’m not sure you are, I’m saying prepare. We may need to pulse the Bubble as a show of force. It may not even be taken like that, but just a demonstration that we know you’re up to something. Best case scenario, they initiate some form of contact or message. That would be gold. But we have to get ready.”
“Worst case scenario, we’ve provoked a war with a completely unknown entity.” Tim mocked.
Tim contrasted Careen like virtue and vice. He was the oldest tech team member, having been with the PDCO Black Ops for twenty years, and was now in his sixties. Tim’s wardrobe seemed to only consist of cream-colored slacks, and white, short sleeve, button-down shirts with a front pocket.
“And that’s why I need you to run a risk assessment, Tim. I’ll need some numbers when I present the pulse option to Christo. We’ll make the recommendation, but the order to execute would come right from the top. When can you get that to me?” Desmond said, leaning back in his chair.
“That’s a trick question, of course.”
Desmond smiled, “Not really. I need it today.”
“LUKE!” Desmond yelled and watched the half-asleep, pudgy, teenage coding prodigy nearly fall out of his chair.
“Wha wha, whas happenin… oh sorry Des,” Luke mumbled sleepily.
Of all the PDCO Black Ops employees, Luke was the only one born on Maui. His parents died when he was very young. He’d passed from foster home to foster home until his eighteenth birthday when a recruiter recognized his prowess for developing artificial intelligence algorithms. The recruiter also realized that Luke was about to be homeless. Without a family and being a local, a more perfect fit was barely possible.
“Sorry to disturb your beauty rest, Luke. You go back to napping while the three of us work on the most important problem in the world,” Desmond said with dripping sarcasm.
“Really, you’d be okay with that?” Luke puzzled with genuine incredulity.
“No, I’m not fucking okay with that!” Desmond threw up his hands.
“Ease off the boy, Des. He’s barely out of puberty. They get sleepy, you know. Unless they’re playing video games or looking at porn.” Careen teased while shooting Luke a smile.
In an unexpected turn of events, Careen had assumed a motherly role with Luke. Unfortunately for him, his opinion of Careen was as far from maternal as possible.
“Hey! I don’t look at… well, you…"
“Okay, okay, enough.” Tim chided. “Let’s finish the discussion so we can get some actual work done. This meeting could have been an email.” He tapped his watch.
Desmond looked at the floor, calmed himself down, and went on. “Luke, I need you to focus on what breached the bubble, how, and when. I need facts, not problem-solving, okay?” He’d found that being simple and straightforward with Luke was the best approach to working with the young man. The kid was quite simply a genius but required constant and clear direction.
Desmond added, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.” And shot Careen a look that registered her approval.
Luke brightened. “Okay, Des. I’ve already started running pattern analysis programs throughout a subsection of the Bubble’s coverage for any external disturbances. Once I know that accurate results are coming back, I’ll expand and multiply it. If that all works well, it might be worth considering it as a firmware upgrade to every satellite. But, I guess we’ll have to get those nations’ authorization before that, right?” he questioned with enthusiasm.
“Yes, Luke. That sounds perfect. Once you feel confident in your approach, I want you to run it past Careen and Tim for validation.”
Luke smiled. “Okay!”
“Careen, are you free later?” Luke blurted out as awkwardly as humanly possible.
“Yes. Come by whenever you’re ready,” she said sweetly.
“What about me, Luke? Are you going to ask me if I’m free later?” Tim teased.
"Uh…," Luke stammered.
“Enough,” Desmond spat. “The meeting is over. Get to work.”
The group left, and Desmond walked over to a display similar to the one in NOC. He zoomed and focused on the one percent of the network showing as inactive. Muttering to himself, Desmond recounted and said aloud the tagline on his father’s plumbing truck. “The problem isn’t the leak. It’s the water.”
On the way back to his office, Christo observed the animated conversation of the tech team. They didn’t notice him watching. Good, that’s what I want to see. He walked past Arthur’s office, but he wasn’t there. “Hmmph,” he said, annoyed.
When he was about to sit at his desk, an incoming message from Sophie popped up on his screen. She’d been part of the PDCO longer than anyone. Although her title was Communication Director, her responsibilities touched everything in some capacity. Christo appreciated her direct and concise communication style. Her fashion sense matched that style, as she could easily be mistaken for a librarian. Her hair was twisted into a knot and bound with a pencil. Steel-rimmed glasses framed her face. A bright white blouse neatly tucked into a knee-length skirt hovered above comfortable brown loafers.
“Hey, Sophie, howzit?” Christo said as he clicked the video answer button on his display.
“It’s fine, Christo. Thank you for asking. You have a package. The package. A crate. Would you like it in your office or the lab?”
“The lab, please, and can you find Arthur and have him meet me there in fifteen minutes?”
“Yes,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Thank you, Sophie.”
“You’re welcome,” she said and signed off.
“You haven’t got anything new? Nothing?” Arthur questioned into his cell phone. After leaving the bathroom, he’d gone topside to get some air, still feeling a little shaken.
“Okay, okay, fine. I just had to check. We’re keeping this to ourselves for a day or so, but I think it’s too important to wait. Please let me know if you hear anything from around the globe, shit.“ He looked down at his phone, “Gotta go, as usual, this conversation never happened, later.”
Arthur disconnected the call and read the text message from Sophie. He tapped out a quick reply and then leaned against the building, taking in a deep breath with his eyes closed. He tried to put life into perspective and think about what mattered. Family, his family was what mattered the most, and to protect them, he’d have to stay alive.
Next week in Chapter 24, “A remorseless killer,” Sheila and Scott leave breadcrumbs for our heroes.