Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hello ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

CHAPTER SIX

 

When I returned home that night, I immediately went to my computer and opened the news article about the hacker's challenge. I sat back and contemplated it for a few minutes. Finally, I decided that I had nothing to lose by participating in the challenge, and I was certain that my computer skills were such that I could do so with complete anonymity.

 

Thus decided, I ran some special anti-detection software that I had designed before going to the hacker's site.

 

The site was minimal, designed with clean elegant lines and a dark color palette that included blacks, grays, and dark blues. There did not appear to be much content; the only pages listed were “about me,” “challenge,” “about computers, “and “recommended listening.”

 

I first went to the page titled “about me,” and was unsurprised to find nothing but a string of ones and zeros, “0110000101110011001000000110100101100110,” which translated simply to “as if.” Apparently the mystery hacker was not interested in divulging anything personal about himself. It occurred to me that the hacker might be female, but I decided to think of him as male due to the statistical likelihood of his being so. Approximately seventy-two percent of hackers are male.

 

I next went to the section of the site called “about computers.” The page contained fairly generic information about the history of computing, starting with the rather primitive creations in the pre-colony years. The author gave a very basic explanation regarding computer programming, and then listed and briefly described some of the more commonly-used computer languages. Although none of the information was particularly in-depth, the clear and concise explanations only strengthened my suspicion that someone with actual skill and intelligence was behind the site.

 

Before going to look at the challenge, I went to the page that claimed to give recommended listening. The list of music there was eclectic; some of it I was familiar with, but much of it I had never heard of before. Only ten songs were listed, with multi-links to the artist's homepage (if they had one and were not already long dead), a place to buy the music, a place to listen to the music, and articles or `pedia entries about the music.

 

Some people think that hacking and cracking is just about programming prowess and knowledge. Not true. While all good hackers possess programming skills, it is my belief that great hackers possess another almost indefinable quality, something I think of as electronic intuition. When I hacked during the war, my hacking was made easier by the fact that I understood Oz. As much as I hated the organization and the people that comprised it, I still understood its goals, motivations, and style. It gave me a distinct edge when robbing Oz blind with my laptop.

 

So I made myself examine each song carefully. The hacker had chosen not to reveal much about himself on any other part of the site. “As if” might indicate an attitude… or it might just mean that the hacker had a soft spot for pre-colony pop culture. In the end, it revealed little. The song list, however, had the potential to reveal much more, especially when combined with the chosen links. Why had those links been chosen and not others?

 

The first song on the list was written in AC 136, “The Spaces Between.” It was one of the oddest things I had ever heard. It sounded like hissing at first, then strange sounds came through my speakers that bore little resemblance to any music that I had ever heard before. And yet, the longer I listened, the more soothing and meditative I found the strange noises. I also began to discern patterns in the chaos of sounds. How… odd. I went to the `pedia entry and discovered that it was by an L1 composer who had recorded the sounds of Venus's atmosphere and then reworked them into “The Spaces Between.”

 

Bemused, I moved on to the next song on the list, “On Any Colony,” a space pop song that was wildly popular a few years ago. Although not my favorite style of music, it brought a small smile to my face. I could remember Duo and Quatre loudly singing along to the song once while we drove to a safehouse. Of course, I had not found it very amusing at the time…. There was a lot that I had not found very amusing at the time.

 

The third song had me pulling out my gun. It started with a bloodcurdling scream, then launched into a macabre - and loud - caricature of circus music. After that was more screaming that I realized was intended to be singing. I hastily closed the music file and went to look up information on the song. Apparently it was by “Big Kill Top,” an L2 band that specializes in something called “circus-death-metal.” A glance through the band's lyrics revealed dark, angry themes. Their latest album had several songs that appeared to be about the killing and destruction that had gone on during the last war. Although I have never thought of Trowa as an angry person, I could not help but think of him as I read about the band's music. With his involvement with the circus and the war, I wondered what he would make of the song.

 

The next song was a soft lullaby, played on something that sounded like a cross between a Japanese koto and an electronic harp. I snorted and shook my head. I added “mercurial” to the short list of personality traits that I had determined about the mystery hacker. After clicking on the `pedia article, I learned that my guess as to instrumentation was apparently entirely correct. The composer, Emiko Seikko, lives on L-4 and specializes in mixing electronic instruments with the koto. I made a mental note to look for more music by Seikko. I have no idea who my parents are, or where I even came from. I am certain from my blue eyes that I am not one hundred percent Japanese, and yet the cast of my features strongly indicates a Japanese inheritance. It has occurred to me that I might find it fulfilling to explore my obvious cultural heritage.

 

The fifth song even I could recognize as terribly sad, a song about loving someone more than they were capable of returning. The lead singer's voice was beautiful and velvety as she sang, “It doesn't matter what I do… I know I'll never really get inside of you, to make your eyes catch fire the way they should. The way the blue could pull me in, if they only would, if they only would….” The file said it was “A Letter to Elise” by Spacer's Lament, an after-colony band that was still around. Further information about the song revealed that although the version was new, the actual song was written and first performed by a pre-colony band named the Cure. I made a mental note to look up more music by both Spacer's Lament and the Cure.

 

In yet another mercurial change, the next song, “Get on the Platform,” was a sugary-sweet pop number that sounded like so many others that were popular today. I had never been to a dance club, but I imagined that this was the sort of music that was played in one. I skimmed over the musician's information, but there was nothing obviously extraordinary about “DJ Dream,” the L-4 artist who had recorded the song.

 

I could see why my opponent had chosen song number seven, as it was essentially a song about hacking. It had never occurred to me that people made music about hacking, but I supposed that it made sense in a way. The voice that sang was clearly female, but had a very assertive quality to it. “…Hello? Tap in the code, I'll reach you below. No one should brave the underworld alone. . . . Word has it on the wire that you don't know who you are. Well if you could jack into my brain you'd know exactly what you mean here. Mothers are trails on stars in the night. Fathers are black holes that suck up the light…” A small shiver ran down my spine. The words spoke to a loneliness and uncertainty that I felt. The multi-links provided that the singer was a pre-colony singer named “Poe.” As was not unusual after so long, there was little other information to be garnered. Like most people today, I think of pre-colony computer technology as limited and archaic. It was eye-opening to hear such an old song about hacking, a song that made sense and still had relevancy for me.

 

Like most people, I was familiar with the next work on the list, Xamblini's Symphony for the Stars. It is a stirring piece that has been very popular for the last two hundred or so years. It is rumored that the symphony inspired the pioneers and scientists who made the first colonies. It is difficult to not be affected by the chorus in the symphony's final movement: “From dust and stars we all were made, to dust and stars we'll all return, and when we have returned, all men shall know freedom. No king or country has the right to keep us from our birthright! Man is born on ground but still his soul belongs to Heaven.” Listening to the symphony again was a poignant reminder of all that I had spent my life fighting for - for the freedom and peace of others.

 

When I began listening to the last song, another shiver went down my spine. I had heard this song before, but for the life of me, I could not remember where or when. I was just certain that I had heard it before. Like “A Letter to Elise,” the song seemed to be about being in love with someone who either did not or could not feel the same way as the singer. “Baker, baker… can you explain? If truly his heart was made of icing… and I wonder how mine could taste? Maybe we could change his mind. I know you're late for your next parade. You came to make sure that I'm not running. Well, I ran from him in all kinds of ways. Guess it was his turn this time…” The song was called “Baker Baker” and was by a pre-colony singer named Tori Amos. I listened to the song three more times, but I never managed to place where I had heard it before, nor did the `pedia entry jog my memory.

 

As I expected, my careful perusal of the recommended listening gave me several insights into my opponent. First, he was well-versed enough in pre-colony music to have chosen several songs that predated man's settlement of space. Second, he had chosen several sad songs - possibly for no reason at all, but more likely because the music spoke to some hurt within him. This offered a possible weakness. Third, the hacker was likely someone who could go from happy to sad to angry to happy again in the blink of an eye. There was no arrangement to the list of the songs that I could discern. Happy, mindless pop music preceded and followed dark depressing music. I believed that most people would have attempted to choose an order to the songs that flowed better with the songs' moods. Fourth, the hacker was not just someone who had figured out how to reroute modems and interfere with systems. He was clearly someone who was knowledgeable about computers, including their languages and their history. Finally, my opponent likely had an interest in space or the colonies. Not only had Xamblini's symphony made the recommended list, but so had “The Spaces Between,” that odd first piece that was taken from recordings of Venus's atmosphere.

 

I narrowed my eyes and considered the possibility that there was some hidden answer hiding among the chosen songs. Perhaps if I used a key to assign numerical values to each letter and then added up the values of the songs' titles, I might find something…. I shook my head and made an effort to remember that I had not yet even seen the challenge issued by the hacker. I was getting ahead of myself.

 

I left the music page open while I opened the challenge page to see what I was up against. I was not surprised to see that it was concise and to the point, like everything else I had seen so far.

 

Welcome to my domain. I assume you are here because you have heard about my challenge.

 

So what is my challenge?

 

Here is the only easy answer that I'll give you: the below file is my challenge. Of course, getting the file is the first mini-boss that you must defeat in order to continue. Most of you won't get that far. Any script-kiddies out there can just turn right around and go play with the other skiddiots.

 

I assure you, not even one of the glorified Gundam pilots can break my baby.

 

And of course, if you're good enough to compete, you don't need any more explanation from me. I do, however, have one rule that you must follow: you must stay strictly white hat. Nothing illegal will fly, and I promise you, I can fry your `ware no matter where or who you are. Don't try shit with me. I will know it, and then you will be seriously punished.

 

I don't anticipate having to give away a prize, as I don't think anyone out there can crack my program. But, if you somehow find your way through, you will get two prizes. First, you will get the warm fluffy feeling of accomplishment. I'm sure the newspapers and vid programs will interview you and shit, if that's your kink. Second, you will get me. I will answer your questions, I will be your friend. I will explain everything you wanted to ask while working on my masterpiece. It may not seem like a lot now, but once you've tried to break my lovely and once you learn who I am, you'll realize that knowing me is worth more than anything else I could give you.

 

Good luck.

 

I added egotistical to the list of character traits that I had discerned about the hacker.

 

I sat back and took a moment to examine my thoughts and feelings about the challenge. I was pleased that it looked difficult. And more than that, I was… excited to start. It pulled to me in a way that nothing else had so far. However, it was already late, and I wanted to go in to work early the next morning so that I could start on the challenge as soon as I got home. I set a bevy of programs to run before I went to bed - programs to determine the hacker's IP address, others to rip apart the code holding the site together and spit it back out to me.

 

As I was laying in bed waiting for sleep to take me, it occurred to me that hacking was almost certainly not what Une had in mind when she ordered me to find a passion outside of work.

 

 

 

[A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review my fic! Also thank you to those of you who have added this fic to your alerts or favorites. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out; I'm finding that I need to do a bit of research for this chapter and the next chapter or two, so they may take a few days each. But I will be back up to speed soon! Also, please note. I do not own Gundam Wing or the characters contained therein. Nor do I own the Cure's “Letter to Elise,” Poe's “Hello,” or Tori Amos's “Baker Baker.” All lyrics quoted in this chapter belong to one of those three artists, except for the excerpt from the Symphony of the Stars, which I wrote on my own. I heavily edited the lyrics, but promise you that all of the songs are worth your attention. This was a hard chapter to write, and I hope it's not totally awful..]