The Coach cleared her throat.
“Right,” Staffman said. “Sorry. Anyway, my virus lets me access every system it infects and utilize some of its unused processingpower. Most computers don’t run at one hundred percent of their operating capacity. Oh, they might, for short periods of heavyactivity, but most of the time it’s down at twenty percent or less. That leaves me an enormous amount of computing power toaccess. The whole thing, tied together, is called a botnet. As of right now, the virus has gotten to about three-quartersof the world’s systems in just under seventy-two hours. That’s a record, in case you’re wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” the Coach said, her voice turning a bit frosty. “What do you say you cut to the chase here, Professor? I’d appreciateit.”
“A botnet lets me crack the Oracle’s systems much more quickly. This bar”—he indicated the third monitor—“shows how we’redoing. We’ve only been at it for about twenty-four hours, and we’re nearly at a hundredth of a percent. That’s remarkableprogress for the level of encryption we’re trying to break. It should have taken months.”
“Dr. Staffman, if I understand you right, it means we won’t get this done for more than a year.”
The twinkle had vanished from the Coach’s eyes. Staffman swallowed. She had done some very quick math to come up with thatfigure, that absolutely correct figure.
“Coach, you have to understand how incredible it is that we can do this at all. We’re accelerating the procedure by a thousandtimes! I know it’s slow, but it’s the only way.”
“I need it faster. I need it now, Staffman.”
“It can’t be done. I’m already using a quarter of the world’s computing power as it is. What do you expect me to do?”
The Coach raised one dark eyebrow. Staffman wondered if she dyed them—her hair was a uniform silver gray.
“Why are you only using a quarter?”
“Let me explain the situation, Coach. Look at this map,” Staffman said, gesturing to the central monitor on his desk. “I’mhaving my team monitor the processing power my botnet is sucking up, to make sure that it doesn’t get too heavy in any onearea. If we’re going to be in this for the long haul, we have to stay below the radar.”
“But you could use the rest, if you wanted to,” the Coach said, her tone thoughtful.
“Yes, I suppose, but . . . look. I might not be explaining myself very well. If I turn up the usage, then the virus wouldbe noticed. People would take action. We’d have to stop.”
“But if you used it all, then you could get past the Oracle’s security that much faster. It wouldn’t matter if someone foundus—we’d already be in,” the Coach said.
Staffman was beginning to get frustrated. He’d paid his dues in grad school as a teaching assistant—explaining concepts tolaymen was never pleasant, and the worst were those with a little knowledge, enough to think they could second-guess him.The only problem was that he couldn’t exactly give the Coach a D-minus.
“The thing is, though,” he said, trying valiantly to keep any trace of sarcasm out of his voice, “the computer processingpower we’d be stealing is being used for things right now. Air traffic, the Internet, military—and not just here, but all over the world. The entire globe wouldgo haywire, Coach.”
“But you could do it.”
Staffman ran a hand through his hair. He adjusted his glasses. He looked across the room, to the window at the back. He lethis gaze rest there for a moment, then shifted his eyes back to the Coach.
“Yes, I could do it,” he said.
“How much would it speed things up?”
“Exponentially. I could have your answer in a matter of hours.”
“So do it.”
“Coach, I can’t. People would die.”
The Coach perched on the edge of Staffman’s desk. The scientist unconsciously leaned back in his desk chair, as far away fromthe woman as he could.
“Dr. Staffman, listen to me. You aren’t a good person. You know it and I know it. You’re selfish and you’re cowardly. That’sall right. It’s not like you’re unique. Most people I’ve met are just like you.
“And so,” she continued, “I think we also both know there’s no way you’ll give up your life to save the lives of a bunch ofpeople who may die when you fulfill your duty as a member of my team. You don’t know any of those people. The truth is, the only personyou give two shits about is yourself. So save your life, save me the bullshit, and do it. Now.”
Staffman stared at the Coach. He thought about the money he had been promised as payment for successfully breaking throughthe Site’s security. Almost a decade ago, he had done another job for her, and the money from that effort had funded his ownresearch for years. Years without groveling before university tenure boards, and worse, teaching cow-eyed, dull-minded, disinterestedundergraduates. That money was almost gone.
“Okay, Coach,” he said.
“Good,” she said, her voice cold. “Get on with it.”
Staffman cleared his throat.
“Stop monitoring the nodes,” he called to the rest of the technical team. “Shut down your workstations and leave. I’ll contactyou if I need anything else.”
A chorus of questions and complaints arose in the room. People wanted to know if they were getting paid what they were promised,why the project had stopped. Staffman’s mouth tightened.
“Just get out!” he shouted. “You’ll get your money. Just go.”
No one moved.
“Now, Doctor, that’s not the way you handle a situation like this,” the Coach said. She slid off Staffman’s desk, gettingcarefully to her feet.
“People, you’ll all be taken care of. You have my word. Now get on out of here and enjoy yourselves. Hell, you’ve just beengiven the rest of this beautiful spring day off. What are you still doing inside? Go throw a Frisbee, or ask someone on adate! You’ll like it, I promise.”
She chuckled. The technicians looked at one another uncertainly.
“Go on, now,” the Coach repeated, more firmly.
A tech near the door shrugged. She hit the
