Read Online Code Breakers Complete Series: Books 1-4 by Colin F. Barnes - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Colin F. Barnes
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to do this. And tell me how. I don’t understand anything you’re saying. And what the hell is it if it’s not a person?”
“We call ’em ‘NearlyMen’. They’re a new design. Part of the Family’s security force for City Earth.”
“There’s no one left to get into the City since the Cataclysm, surely?”
“Who said they’re only trying to keep people out? Why do you think we were paying a bribe? Only way out to the abandoned lands is through this here gate system. Look, we’re running out of time. We’re being patient because this is your first time, but jack in and get on with it. Figure it out while you’re inside.”
Petal grabbed a lead from her backpack. She plugged one end into the gore-covered port inside the NearlyMan and the other into the jack socket in Gerry’s neck.
His natural reaction was to jerk away, but Gabriel held him tight and whispered into his ear. “Use your algorithm skills to sniff out the security protocol, Gez. When inside, disable the alarm and open the gate. You’ll see inside clearly enough. These NearlyMen don’t have much else going on in there.”
Before he could speak, his brain pulsed like it was trying to escape his skull from the inside. A burning white pain shot through his eye nerves, and he twitched uncontrollably as he connected with the NearlyMan’s AIA.
Gerry didn’t see it as much as he felt it. A black entity of sorts hovering in the corner of an empty room. He mentally approached it and thought of a way to communicate with it. Outside of his mind, everything had dulled to a low hum. Even the heat on his skin from the sun was now just a fading memory. It was just him and the intelligent program.
In a sweet female voice, it spoke to Gerry. “You’ve been a naughty boy. Daddy will not be happy.”
Gerry ignored it and continued to probe for a way past its security system. Each check, each test was rebuffed with error code #2501: insufficient talent.
It was mocking him.
Reaching out his mind and thinking back to the code samples he remembered from the exploits book, he pictured a complicated algorithm and sent it towards the security module. He felt his heartbeat increase. The AIA processed his thoughts as though they were executable code. It took Gerry’s breath away. He’d never felt anything so… immediate.
Excited, he threw more code at it. Unburdened by having to type or speak code and waiting for it to compile like his daily work back at Cemprom, he just thought his code and there it was, unfolding, executing, running.
“You know, little boy, I’m starting to like you,” the AIA said.
It was becoming overwhelmed with Gerry’s code viruses. He felt the first layer of security break down, and he extended his thoughts further into the darkened room: a representation of the NearlyMan’s storage drive. The AIA recognised Gerry as an owner of the system, and he was free to explore its contents as if he were the guard.
The first thing he did was switch the flag on the AIA’s speech file to Off. That was trivial. Next up was the alarm system. Luckily, it was like Gabe had said. There was very little in this system. Apart from the AIA’s protected files and the guard’s personality profile and behaviour instructions, there were just two areas left: the alarm protocols and one named Personal.
Intrigued, Gerry opened the latter section. Inside, a gallery of images floated up in his mind. There were thousands of the same two scenes from the limited view from the tower. Some looking towards City Earth, others looking away. Of those looking away, Gerry noticed specks of dark colour on the horizon. He flicked through them in time order, the specks growing larger, until the later images showed what looked… no, couldn’t be… a group of women and men dressed in what looked like furs and leathers. Some sported riflelike weapons, while others had wires, antennae, and dish shaped objects mounted upon their
“We call ’em ‘NearlyMen’. They’re a new design. Part of the Family’s security force for City Earth.”
“There’s no one left to get into the City since the Cataclysm, surely?”
“Who said they’re only trying to keep people out? Why do you think we were paying a bribe? Only way out to the abandoned lands is through this here gate system. Look, we’re running out of time. We’re being patient because this is your first time, but jack in and get on with it. Figure it out while you’re inside.”
Petal grabbed a lead from her backpack. She plugged one end into the gore-covered port inside the NearlyMan and the other into the jack socket in Gerry’s neck.
His natural reaction was to jerk away, but Gabriel held him tight and whispered into his ear. “Use your algorithm skills to sniff out the security protocol, Gez. When inside, disable the alarm and open the gate. You’ll see inside clearly enough. These NearlyMen don’t have much else going on in there.”
Before he could speak, his brain pulsed like it was trying to escape his skull from the inside. A burning white pain shot through his eye nerves, and he twitched uncontrollably as he connected with the NearlyMan’s AIA.
Gerry didn’t see it as much as he felt it. A black entity of sorts hovering in the corner of an empty room. He mentally approached it and thought of a way to communicate with it. Outside of his mind, everything had dulled to a low hum. Even the heat on his skin from the sun was now just a fading memory. It was just him and the intelligent program.
In a sweet female voice, it spoke to Gerry. “You’ve been a naughty boy. Daddy will not be happy.”
Gerry ignored it and continued to probe for a way past its security system. Each check, each test was rebuffed with error code #2501: insufficient talent.
It was mocking him.
Reaching out his mind and thinking back to the code samples he remembered from the exploits book, he pictured a complicated algorithm and sent it towards the security module. He felt his heartbeat increase. The AIA processed his thoughts as though they were executable code. It took Gerry’s breath away. He’d never felt anything so… immediate.
Excited, he threw more code at it. Unburdened by having to type or speak code and waiting for it to compile like his daily work back at Cemprom, he just thought his code and there it was, unfolding, executing, running.
“You know, little boy, I’m starting to like you,” the AIA said.
It was becoming overwhelmed with Gerry’s code viruses. He felt the first layer of security break down, and he extended his thoughts further into the darkened room: a representation of the NearlyMan’s storage drive. The AIA recognised Gerry as an owner of the system, and he was free to explore its contents as if he were the guard.
The first thing he did was switch the flag on the AIA’s speech file to Off. That was trivial. Next up was the alarm system. Luckily, it was like Gabe had said. There was very little in this system. Apart from the AIA’s protected files and the guard’s personality profile and behaviour instructions, there were just two areas left: the alarm protocols and one named Personal.
Intrigued, Gerry opened the latter section. Inside, a gallery of images floated up in his mind. There were thousands of the same two scenes from the limited view from the tower. Some looking towards City Earth, others looking away. Of those looking away, Gerry noticed specks of dark colour on the horizon. He flicked through them in time order, the specks growing larger, until the later images showed what looked… no, couldn’t be… a group of women and men dressed in what looked like furs and leathers. Some sported riflelike weapons, while others had wires, antennae, and dish shaped objects mounted upon their
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