[Chapter 761: The Unexplainable Increase in Workload]
If you were an economist, joining the CIA or NSA would be easy money, as long as you weren't too foolish. With a bit of luck, you might even end up as the world's richest person.
"Hahaha, Leo Wanta's sentence came down; he has to spend twenty-one years in prison."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Yes, Master, that guy's completely clueless. He evaded taxes on over ten thousand dollars, and according to his statements, he had been working for some government agency."
"Sigh, the CIA's incompetent buffoon probably only had that little talent. Honestly, this whole thing was poorly executed; they might as well send him to a mental hospital."
"Ahem, Master, they cannot use that excuse when they request extradition. If we say he's insane now, it won't look good in Switzerland."
"Someone's slipped up. This issue will drag on for a long time. Staying in prison, sigh, that dude could easily be taken out. Such a talent; it's a pity. Tanner, as they say, a guy is doomed if he picks the wrong career. Just look at this guy; if he were mixing things up on Wall Street..."
"Heh, Master, those banks are probably the ones most hoping he ends up gone."
"That might not be the case. Who knows if he's got any tricks up his sleeve? Those accounts and passwords might pop up at any time."
Once it entered the legal system, the CIA had no real leverage. If they dared to reach too far, they needed to watch their own heads.
...
"Sir, Tom's here."
"Let him in. By the way, pour me a glass of red wine."
"Sir, do you want cheese? The cheese is pretty good today."
"Sure."
William White called Tom over, but it wasn't just for a drink. He had some important business to discuss.
"Sir, you needed me?"
"Have a seat. How's the ICQ project you all are working on coming along?"
"Sir, we're on the third test version now. With three more months at the latest, the trial version can go live."
"Three months? That's not fast enough. This team needs more hands. By the way, Tanner just told me that our servers are facing frequent attacks. This ICQ is meant for entertainment, so I need something safer, a more streamlined software. Oh, and make the encryption as complex as possible."
"Ahem, sir, sure, but that's a huge workload. It's practically like building a new team from scratch. With all these security requirements, sir, are you planning to pitch this to the military?"
"That's nonsense. They don't even use the internet. Forget about that for now -- get some people organized. Also, this project does not need to appear in the public information. As for costs, the foundation will place the orders."
"Understood, sir. I'll get on it right away. If this is urgent, can we delay ICQ a bit?"
"Yeah, the current penetration of personal PCs isn't high enough, and besides, Microsoft is still figuring things out."
...
In fact, Bill Gates wasn't just idling; he was clearly feeling the pressure. He sold his browser, but suddenly he was facing a competitor.
Meanwhile, a search engine was not only growing rapidly but was also facing virtually no competition. Where was the logic in that?
What? No profitable model?
Heh, Bill Gates wasn't that easily fooled. Right now, he was burning money to capture market share. Even if he didn't know how William White was making money, it wouldn't stop him from feeling envious.
This wasn't over either. Another video call software had just hit the market. Clearly, there were more people optimistic about this than about search engines.
If only it were a different company. This jerk William White was constantly thinking about his shareholdings. This made Bill incredibly angry.
The situation with Cisco was right in front of them. To say he wasn't worried would have been unrealistic. Sequoia Capital had directly ousted the founder when that guy was about to realize his grand plans. Then they discovered that they weren't all that significant after all; there were others much more ruthless than him.
...
"Filson, isn't this guy being overly cautious? My shares have only half the voting rights. Oh, forget it, just tell him that I have little interest in this video call thing. In five years, if the internet doesn't meet expectations, I have something much better, but I'm not telling him. What a petty bastard!"
Faced with his boss's reckless attitude, Filson was left speechless. If you weren't interested, why play games with Clinton? He was sure that once this news reached Bill Gates, that guy's reaction would be priceless.
See? Why are you overthinking? If you can exploit them, do so.
What kind of person was he anyway?
He was completely above trivial pleasures, a person with noble sentiments. The key thing was, he was just too easy to deceive; the others didn't even bother with him.
"Don't look at me with such melancholy, Filson. I did this on purpose. You know about ICQ? That thing can integrate video call functionality. The current network isn't good enough, so I just stripped it of some features."
Filson was taken aback; the only words that came to his mind were 'cunning and crafty.' What William White did had completely derailed many people's thinking. By the time they figured it out, ICQ would already be set to launch.
"Sir, will this be run by an independent company?"
"Of course. Tell Bill Gates that mutual shareholding is fine. Bundling it with the Windows system would be a terrible idea. His new system is already massive. Is he seriously planning to bury the Pentium?"
"Heh, the current software doesn't even unleash the CPU's full potential. There has been a lot of criticism facing the Windows 3.0 series."
"Yeah, these guys don't know what's gone wrong. Fortunately, not too many sold."
He couldn't wait to get to Seattle; ha, this time Bill Gates owed him one.
...
As the internet usage became widespread, William White indeed had to think about security issues. This ICQ was just the first step. Next, there was no question that they needed to adjust email as well.
These things weren't secure even from mail proxy servers. If they wanted to be safe, everything from email encryption to proxy server selection had to be considered.
How much it would cost was another matter; the workload was already incredibly daunting. The most troublesome part was that these guys had meddled in both software and hardware. Completely bypassing their meddling was a formidable challenge.
"Sir, what we're doing is illegal."
"This is just a test; it doesn't involve legal issues. For the safety of America, we need to do this."
"Okay, but..."
"What else is it?"
"Sir, there were some breakthroughs a few days ago, but suddenly they're not working now. The security codes have all failed."
"Eh? How could that happen? Those two hackers we caught can't get in either?"
"Not at all. They said the core area is impossible, unless you can gain access to the White Center."
"Damn it, those guys hacking into the CIA's intranet didn't seem to have this much trouble."
"According to them, the White Center's server is basically a super labyrinth."
"Looks like it. The good stuff is only being used by them. Damn it, it's only a company, yet their security setup is even better than ours."
*****
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