Cloud to Cloud

Episode 23: A Message that is Not a Message

Fred sat engrossed in his screens, vigorously typing code as it scrambled across the field entitled Cloud Master TEST SYSTEM: C2C Search Engine.

He shifted the cursor to the navigation menu: Akashic Record Query, On-realm Connection, Off-realm Connection, Help - knowledge store, Consultation. He rubbed his eyes. A yawn escaped his lips.

A new chat window popped up, jarring him from his work. His boss's face appeared in the rectangle on the center screen.

"Fred, we've got a problem." The man's balding head had a sheen of sweat. "Grab Evan and meet us in the boardroom, ASAP."

The chat box closed before Fred could offer a response. He considered the pages of open code laid out in front of him.

"They couldn't know. Could they?" He struggled to lock down the numerous files without losing information.

He stretched and turned to leave the cubicle. He wasn't even sure if Evan was in the office. He shook free the clouds of code that fogged his mind and checked the time. They had both been taking additional precautions, for differing reasons.

When was the last time he ate, slept? He pushed away from the desk. His legs wobbled under him. His back cracked and popped as he straightened.

Fred grumbled as he hobbled from his cubicle.

He turned the corner of the cubicle to rap on the frame of Evan's cube. "You home?"

He poked his head in, half expecting to see an empty chair.

To the contrary, Evan pivoted in his chair and stared wide eyed at Fred. "Hey. You're unplugged. Something must be up."

"Board Room." Fred nodded. "We've been summoned."

"Crap." Evan pushed his fingers through his hair.

He, too, locked down his work stations. Fred took note the process was much slower as the connection to the actual ITower network slugged along.

Fred wandered down the narrow hallway to the great frosted glass doors of the board room. Evan followed quietly. Fred waited at the door for the younger man. He swallowed his concerns about the work he had been doing. Meeting with the Board wasn't something he'd planned to do so soon. How long had it been? A week? Had Evan been working on anything substantial in that time? He felt as uncertain as Evan looked. The two exchanged a glance as they assessed their combined ill-preparedness.

The energy in the room felt stiff yet agitated as Fred and Evan entered. Men and women in standard hues of greys and blues sat around the oblong table. Docked tablets lay dark─instead, folders occupied the space in front of each board member. Evan slid into a seat closest to the door. He eyed the folder in front of him. Taking it in his hands he tipped it causing the papers to scatter free. Fred assisted in gathering the stray papers as he claimed the seat beside Evan.

"It's a folder, kid." Fred allowed a smirk to peek from his lips.

"Right." Evan frowned.

"Gentlemen." The head of ITower offices sighed as the pair settled in. "It appears our situation has become more dire than first thought."

Evan and Fred exchanged sidelong glances. A silent curse passed between them.

"If you could, please, start the presentation." He waved to the presenter at the front of the room.

The man cleared his throat and began with a stutter and a cough. "You'll notice in the following sequence, some people have been able to connect to unauthorized Cloud data." The man adjusted the sleeves of his suit as he changed the image on the screen. "This woman, for example, queried family photos and accessed what appeared to be video clips of her ancestors from the 1800's."

"Nonsense." A man in an equally stuffy suit sniffed. "Video didn't even exist then."

With little more than a nod and a glance directed at Evan and Fred, the presenter continued. "Precisely." He clicked the next slide. "This man queried economic projections for the coming year and what appeared to be historical economic data for the next fifty years."

The head of ITower piped in. "Historical?"

The presenter again cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt sleeves. "Yes. It appears to be a corruption of data. Is it possible you know something more about this Fred? Evan?"

Evan shrugged, as confused as the Board members. Yet, Fred squirmed.

Before Fred could offer a response, another suit inquired. "Fred, you know our data. The madness in this is clear. Find out what's going on. Fix it."

"Of course. It has to be some sort of glitch resulting from the shut downs." Fred waved it off as nonsense.

With a trusting nod, the man turned to Evan. "Evan, you're our security man on this. Find out who's getting in, how they are doing it. Lock 'em out. Lock everybody out for as long as you have to."

"Including businesses and emergency?" Evan frowned. "We're already straining to keep things as normal as possible."

"Everyone. If you have to." The man's hand came down heavy on the table. "We have to get this cleaned up before the Feds climb down our throats because some gamer kid accessed a real war game."

Military protocol slipped into Evan's posture as he offered a curt nod.

The man at the other end of the table straightened his tie as his posture relaxed. "ITower's command of all things InfoStrada is tenuous enough. We don't need to prove the activists right about monopolies and global control. It's not as if we are locking everyone out for our own elite use."

As if on cue, Fred's mobile device chimed a text message alert.

"Is that your phone?" Evan frowned and leaned in to whisper while other board members checked their own devices in confusion.

Fred snatched his mobile device and swiped his hand across the screen to decline the incoming message from Hannah. "The mobile network system has been down since the start of this mess. How are you getting messages?" Evan hissed. "And from whom?"

Silencing the ringer, Fred returned the device to his pocket.

"What was that?" The boss frowned in Fred's direction before scanning the rest of the room in search of the disturbance.

Another board member leaned over the table and focused again on Fred. "Was that a mobile message?"

Fred coughed and waved off the idea as if it were insane. "Uh, no, of course not. It was a reminder. For me to take my meds. I use the old text notification chime for nostalgia's sake."

The board member's eyes narrowed before he shook off the interruption. "Of course. Take your medication. Get back to your desk."

"Of course." Fred was out of his chair without a second thought. "Give us a couple days to shake this out. We'll keep you in the know."

"Fred." The boss's voice called from the front of the room. "You go right ahead and use my protocols to get what you need. Get it done."

"Of course." Fred offered a curt nod. "As you say."