Edson straighten his back and started degrading the computer unit he was facing. An orchestra of keyboards echoed the whole room as they started doing their task. Kevin set a tracking software to corner the culprit while setting up a transmission signal to get hold of the highjacked plane. He also set up firewalls to keep their pace hidden from outsiders and keep the hacker at bay. As they keep on finding a way to decipher the key, another code was sent to their monitor.
0101428980101478800101246730101437430101355560101
0101208820101220600101190270101365030101214520101
0101224960101304000101202840101399310101254350101
"He does follow a pattern..." Markus whispered. He ticked his tongue and went on circles with his chair.
The adults stared at the kid.
"What do you mean?" Edson replied. He continued to hit on the keys.
"Ahh, I mean, I guess it's right to assume that the first code he sent was the key. That is what we will use to converse with him. And this one.." he said facing the monitor with the newly sent code "...is the message we need to decrypt."
"I found the crack in the internet archives!" Shichiro, still in chibi form, waved his hand an .exe file of MATLAB appeared on the monitor.
"We can decipher that, you don't have to worry." Markus turned and face Edson "Anyway, is the degrading done?"
"Almost at it, just give me a few more minutes.." Edson said while hitting the keys continuously.
"What is MATLAB, Marky?" Kevin asked
"I happen to read it on the book from our library. There were software exercises included on its activities and that software is MATLAB. It was explained there that it was a software specially made for linear computations but it also had other purposes because of its included programs, like SimoLab and other stuffs..."
"Oh,, I see.." Kevin said, still typing codes. "And that software is what you will use to decipher the key code? Isn't the present software capable of deciphering it?"
"The present software erased the existence of linear cryptography of deciphering. This method was long forgotten because of the new linear programming system and deciphering technologies are already incorporating the octogram system. Also, it is too old fashioned and no one dared to dig into the old stuffs." Markus said.
"But you did." Kevin muttered.
"I don't have a choice, but, it did come in handy though."
"Yeah,," Kevin agreed.
A few minutes passed, Edson threw his hand in the air and shouted, "I'm done!"
"Great, Shi-chan, install the file to that unit now." Markus said
"Okay!" Shichiro replied
The software was installed and Hachiro started running the program. He entered the key in matrix form, find the inverse then he multiplied it to the second code delivered to them.
"Damn it, I can't believe it is still him. Look what he said." Markus muttered.
42898 47880 24673 43743 35556
20882 22060 19027 36503 21452
22496 30400 20284 39931 25435
Y O U W I L L N E V E R W I N
"What was that all about?" Edson exclaimed.
"Wait. wait .wait. How did you get that decryption?" Kevin exclaimed. He stood from his seat and stood between Markus and Edson.
"Captain?..." Markus replied
Kevin glared at him so he leaned on his chair and stared back.
"I removed the ones and zeros from the previous code and the current code given. Those were just distractors." Markus explained.
All the others listened to him carefully.
"Once we did that, we can now have an mxn matrix. That is what I entered in the software where I performed matrix multiplication to decypher the given matrices." Markus took a deep sigh and continued, "If you are so dumb to perform this process manually, it will take you years just to come up with this answer. That is why we needed the software for easier access."
"Okay. Now I get it." Kevin muttered.
"Now, what to do?" Edson asked
"I'll send a reply." the kid once again shocked the whole room.
He hit numbers to formulate a code to send a message to the hacker. He used the same key to deliver his message.
He typed
31036 000 31292 000 13774 000 26376 000 26184
38726 000 45768 000 28879 000 61605 000 44320
34879 40828 000 23522 000 49321 000 34954
31395 000 31800 000 17194 000 33468 000 28023
"What does that mean?" Edson asked again.
"W H A T D O Y O U W A N T Y O U J E R K" Markus exclaimed.
"You think he'll get what you said?" Kevin asked
"Of course. It's his game, he knows how to deal with it...."
A few seconds passed, the hacker replied another code,
14252 000 18552 000 16380 000 35354 000 20466
20792 000 21016 000 10718 000 10540 000 8638
27748 000 33900 000 17215 000 30329 000 23600
25084 000 30864 000 14937 000 32691 000 26818
"See, he did got the message.." Markus grinned as he turned into his unit and entered another code. He faced Kevin and said, "...find him please.."
"Hai,, I'm on it." The captain replied.
He deciphered it again using the same key and he found,
G O L D S T A R F A L L T O D E M I S E
As the hacker's reply.
"He do have issues against ORION, now his motive is to bring down the mother company?" Kevin said.
"Is he the same person who caused the attack before, Markus??" Edson asked
"No." Markus stopped typing "... Kirk mentioned he had a patron and that's what we're trying to find out at Athena except cleaning the internet."
"So, the one we're conversing right now is the "Patron"..." Kevin said
"Most probably..." Markus replied.
As they try to find out about the hacker, a sudden news flash appeared on one of the monitors.
"The aircraft under siege, Flight Loki, is currently changing its route. The president supposed that the culprit is trying to divert the aircraft somewhere..." the reporter said.
"What the heck is going on..." Markus exclaimed.
"It is going to the middle of the ocean near the Near the tropic of Cancer..." the reporter continued
"We are trying to remotely control the aircraft using the auto-program we injected in all of our aircraft but..." the president said in an interview with his eyes starting to dye out of hope. "...we are having a hard time getting through..."
"They have a remote system? Why didn't I thought about it!" Markus exclaimed.
"What are you talking about, Markus?" Kevin asked.
"There was a remote system... if that's the case then I can hack it to control the aircraft and land it safely at the airport." Markus explained
"You're right! That might work.." Edson said
"But, there is something that is bothering me..." Markus said, "If the aircraft will crash, the culprit will die as well...unless he's not in there."
"You mean he's not actually in the aircraft? He's hacking the system from a remote location?" Kevin exclaimed
"Most probably.... Then, if that's the case... the real battle will start when I access his highway." Markus said.
He continued his search as what Shichiro is also doing. Markus went to connecting servers using his access to ORION and tried his hardest to connect and overwrite the system in the aircraft. He replied back to the hacker and send another code using the key,
25842 26552 13329 24298 21655
22871 23040 11862 26284 20735
10744 17312 8648 18085 14445
14832 20080 15748 32394 19466
26498 29936 22484 42018 25976
29078 34576 20547 42650 32669
26579 22240 16478 31834 21809
22482 23980 19393 33113 18316
THEN FACE THEM HEAD ON DO NOT HURT INNOCENT LIVES
He wanted to negotiate or just take some time to get through the system. They work their hardest to make something out of what they have now. He, Edson, and Kevin did not stop until they got connected to the aircraft. Markus, on the other hand, continued his battle against the hacker. He typed codes to gain access to flight Loki. The situation is not yet changing, the reporter said that flight Loki is still rerouting far away from safety and all other else is disarrayed.
"Will we make it?" Edson muttered.
"Trust the best hacker I've ever known.." Kevin said. "Though he's just a kid."
Markus had it hard. He faced the hacker head-on. They tried their best to gain control over the autopilot mode of the aircraft. The moment he almost had it over the hacker, his enemy just disappeared. But the hacker left in response,
26502 33136 15663 26930 23565
16476 14652 12118 18357 11429
29438 35620 15106 30088 28142
T O O L A T E I A M O N I T
And a sudden shock wave was felt from the entire landscape as if a wavelength just scattered from somewhere.
"What was that? Where did it come from?" Kevin asked
"We're finding it, Sir!" one of his team members replied.
A few seconds later, the monitors malfunctioned and Markus' unit turned off.
"Shi-chan? What happened?!!!" Markus shouted
As if to respond, his computer turned on again and Shichiro waved his hand.
"What was that?" Markus asked again
"This is what happened..." Shichiro said
He got through the system and he had control over the hacker. He is now connected to the autopilot mode of the aircraft, but the hacker left a virus that made the system to malfunction.
The turbulence stopped working and the airplane tilted on the sides. Markus can hear the shouts of the passengers, he got audio from it as well. The engine also stopped working.
Markus tried to recover the controls and make the airplane fly again using the keyboard like flying an aircraft in a game of ROS. Kevin and Edson helped him in controlling the aircraft. Edson took control of the engine, trying to start it again. Kevin tried to control the safety system of the aircraft to take the passengers to safety. But he did not make it. The airplane crashed in the middle of the sea, giving them a loud bang. The shouts and wails of the passengers asking for help gradually faded as they heard it from their speakers.
"We.... Lost... them..." Edson gloomily said.
Markus' fingers stopped working. His arms rested on top of the keyboard, lowering his head, with a blank expression. It was the first time he lost like a little kid. His memories of Kirk beating him up in front of the Sunny flashed in comparison to what he experienced now.
"Don't bother yourself about it, it's all my fault, Markus," Kevin said. He stood from his seat and patted the kid's shoulder. He knows they have given him a heavy burden, and now they have lost, he didn't know how to get the kid out of it. "...I told you, it will be my responsibility."
Markus didn't say any word in response. His expression remained blank as they talk about lightening the cold air inside the Ergo.
"He must be shocked at what happened.." Edson said, staring at the helpless child.
"Who would not? On his hands lie the lives of those passengers." Kevin replied, he took a seat and face the computer monitor. He saw the blinking of the tab they used to decipher the code. "It must be hard for him, he might blame himself for all the lives that we have lost," he added.
"And he's just still a kid," Edson muttered.
They all went silent, even the monitors were turned off. Only the aircon can be heard inside the room. Moments later, a commotion broke out. The police force rushed inside Ergo and they went directly to Markus and cuffed him.
"You have the right to remain silent. Any word you say or anything you do can be used against you in court..." the officer said
"Wait.." Kevin stopped them. He stood from his seat and held the hand of the one who cuffed Markus. "I am the one you should be arresting." He eyed the officer fiercely. "This thing is all my idea, I'll take full responsibility for it." He insisted.
"No, Cap. Kevin." The officer replied. He wore a swat uniform carrying a 9mm shotgun. From what they are wearing, Kevin knew that they were from the 4th section. "There is no evidence that the whole thing is done by you. The upper echelon found the trace left by Markus the hacker in the internet highway. He was the one to be blamed." the officer added. "Thus we're here to arrest him."
Markus did not complain nor said any word. He let them carry him outside, cuffed with iron cuffs.
"Hey, Markus.... Wait..." Kevin said but he was stopped by the arresting officers.
The door closed on its own and the officers went away with him. Only the ones who remained inside were the members of the 3rd squad, including Kevin and Edson.
"Ne, Cap., what are they gonna do with him?" Edson asked. "Will they really detain him for what we have done? It was us who did a greater mistake!" He exclaimed and slowly took a seat near the computer unit that Markus used. "The kid was just an accessory to this whole shit."
"I don't know..." Kevin looked pale. He remained standing where he was stopped by the arresting officer. "...Anyway, I,,, I don't know how to say this to Charlie..." his head went low.
"I didn't think of that.." Edson shared the pale look like his blood is draining from him, staring at the shut-downed monitor.
They brought Markus to the inner part of the Bureau, to the place of the upper Echelon, and held him in bars.