“Still remember your login stuff?” Maynard asked like a father to a child.
Of course, Karl replied. Now be quiet.
The psychologist was beyond relieved to find out that the network’s incognito logon service was still active. It was generally used by supervisors, so they could look over their subordinate’s code and designs without alerting the coder that his work was under scrutiny. It also allowed Karl access to his account without any logs of his activity being saved on record.
For a minute or two, Karl couldn’t help but look over his secured files to make sure they hadn’t been changed or bugged for tracking. There were all the transcripts from his correspondence with Dr. Elfa and others. One file included code snippets a colleague, whose name he couldn’t remember for the life of him, had asked him to look over.
His eyes widened as he started to notice something was amiss.
It’s gone, he thought.
“Huh?” Maynard said. “What’s gone?”
“Shit, shit, shit,” Karl cursed aloud.
“Hey! Keep it down! What’s wrong?”
The files—our files—they’re gone. All of them.
“What?”
Our work! Everything we recorded and kept on our sensory experiments has been deleted!
“What the hell?” Maynard said. “Why would anyone do that?”
I don’t know! Karl was in a state of anxiety. That was over a year’s worth of work!
“Well calm down, alright? That’s not what we’re here for.”
But what does it mean? Karl asked. What does our code have to do with any of this?
“I don’t know.”
It will take months to get back to where we were! Karl’s thoughts were drenched with despair. Why would anyone want to set us back? What’s the point?
“Well, we both know there are lots of people who aren’t too fond of human-I.I. progress,” Maynard replied. “But hey, don’t worry. I have backups.”
Karl was taken aback.
You do?
“Of course,” Maynard answered. “I wouldn’t trust these systems to even save my birthdate.”
But that’s against regulations, Karl thought.
“I know.”
It’s illegal to take info like that off-site!
“Well, there’s a couple cops at the front door. Want to turn me in?”
No.
“Then relax,” Maynard said. “The data is safe with me. I can’t be hacked.”
Guess you’re right, Karl conceded.
“Now focus. We need the lab’s personnel and visitor data and we need it soon. You only have twenty-three minutes and fourteen seconds before your ID expires.”
Right, Karl thought before closing out of his file browser.
Thompson had given him strict instructions to call when he was at a computer and to touch nothing else. The psychologist was grateful for that; he was no I.T. specialist.
“You in?” Thompson asked without greeting after answering the call.
“Yeah,” Karl replied. “Where do I get started?”
“Show me the root directory.”
It felt like an incredibly complex process to Karl as he followed his friend’s instructions, but Thompson watched their progress with near boredom. Maynard remained quiet while they worked, not too eager to break anyone’s focus.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, despite Karl’s ignorance, until Thompson let out an irritated groan.
“That shit’s all encrypted. Go back to the root. Maybe we can find an unencrypted backup.”
They deliberated over the files for another handful of minutes before deciding they had to start all over once again. Karl was starting to sweat as he became more and more aware of the time passing around him.
When he noticed a lull in the talking, Maynard spoke up. “Five minutes left, guys,” he warned.
“Thompson, we have to hurry,” Karl urged.
“I know, I know, just be quiet for a minute!”
The hacker was quiet for far longer than Karl was comfortable with. There was even a moment where he thought Thompson had hung up on him.
“See if you can find some sort of external storage somewhere,” Thompson commanded all of a sudden. “A flash drive, thumb stick, anything. Even a disc would work.”
Karl started rummaging through the drawers in his desk. He knew it was a hopeless cause as he memorized each and every item he had in his office, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do.
“We don’t have much time left, we’re just going to have to download the data and leave,” Thompson explained. “But do not put the info on your C.C. We have no idea what it can do or who can track it.”
Karl’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed the shape of a police officer walking past his window. Out of instinct, he ducked and hid under his desk.
“He didn’t see us,” Maynard stated.
“What are you doing?” Thompson asked with a frantic tone. “You need to get that data NOW!”
We’re going to get caught, Karl thought without much hope.
“No we’re not,” Maynard argued. “Now listen, I can download the data. Just like the work files. Just open them up and I’ll grab them.”
Karl’s fingers trembled as he did as he was told. Thompson kept asking what he was doing, but he wasn’t able to focus on a response and open the file at the same time. His brain felt like it was shrinking, and he was quickly losing his ability to problem solve.
“There, I have them. Now get outta here!” Maynard said.
Thompson caught on to what they were doing before wishing them good luck and hanging up.
Karl felt terribly alone now that his friend was off the line.
The psychologist loathed how clammy his hands had become. He tried with all his might to calm, but to no avail. Still, he managed to pull the door open and slip into the hallway without too much fumbling.
Before he could take a single step, a voice cleared its throat behind him.
His blood froze and his brain fell asleep. He could feel the prickly sensation of a limb waking up all over his skull. He didn’t dare turn around.
“Excuse me?” the voice said after a moment.
Karl reanimated like a fish being thawed and spun to face the stranger.
A tall black officer with his hat in his hands was gazing at him under a furrowed brow. His shiny scalp reflected the fluorescent lighting above them.
“What are you doing?” the officer asked.
Fuck.
“Just breathe,” Maynard said. “You’re going to be fine.”
“Hello?”
