CUTTER
Chapter Two
I gotta admit one of the first jobs I pulled for the CR's was a killer.
This one had me laughing for months. I got the message at some ungodly
hour on a Sunday morning. My laptop bleeped when it was scanning the nets
it grabbed a hi profile message addressed to one of my identities.
04/17/03:03/EMAIL@WORLDNET
TO:Wordwide@Bakery
FROM:SYSOP
Cutter,
Find
out who and where "Truth" is. Report back to the usual address.
It was short and to the point. As usual the CR's made no mention of
money or recompense. There was no need. Since joining I got whatever I
wanted. In world terms that wasn't much but you would be amazed at just
how orgasmic a tech head can become when he allowed to buy all the toys he
wants. It would be kinda cool if I ever got a job in the world. I could be
the best fucking programmer administrator around. Whenever a new and
faster computer came out I would buy it for my guys. They would be so
happy with the toys they wouldn't bitch about wages or schedules they
would happily work 48 hours at a time. You think that's bullshit? Then
you've never done it.
Working 48 hours is easy if you love what you do and believe me
programmers love what they do. They love it because they have absolute
control and when you come down to it, that's what we all want.
Yeah the CR's treated me right, now they wanted results and
quickly.
First thing I did was use one of my new toys a GreyCard 2000 Computer
to scan through nets for any info on this Truth. What I got was
interesting.
04/01/14:34/NEWS@JEFFNET
NEWSNET FORUM
Holy Jihad Terror
bombing of Flight 267
TO: J.Makaby@40milsec
FROM:
T.Rasjan@Floodlebug
I agree heartily with your comments. I recently
received a reply from Truth in which he infers the Holy Jihad are the true
Muslims. From their perspective they were coming to the rescue of their
oppressed Muslim brothers. He implied that it is the MODERATE Arab states
who are false Muslims not the other way
around.
Yours,
Floodlebug
04/11/23:12/FAMILY@ORACLE
ORACLE
Abortion and the right
to life.
TO:Suzystone
FROM:Atua ind.
You are of
course totally wrong suzy. Perhaps this will enlighten
you.....
From a Christian point of view one CANNOT allow murder.
Just as God was in Christ even when he was in Mary also humanity is within
a fetus and according to Christian doctrine even in sperm itself. Thus the
actions of anti abortionists are truly a Christian act. They themselves do
not kill and by stopping murder. For the true Christian of course this
argument must be taken further to the military and police.
The
response I got from Truth after I submitted a question to him about this
very topic. Clearly he shows why Christians must oppose
abortion.
"All life is sacred but surely a childs is holy." -
Truth
04/15/04:18/FREEWARE@NATNET
KRAZZZZP! ONLINE
MAGAZINE
Editorial
And what the hell is this "Truth"
character playing around at?
Almost every day now I hear some
physco quoting him. If you are gonna be a preacher KEEP IT OFF THE NET.
What's next Online Evangelists sending EMAIL to everyone asking for money?
Oh no I think I feel sick already. ;)
Razza
It seemed the CR's had caught onto a fast growing phenomena. You had to
hand it to them they were really on the ball. This guy was gonna start
being a national pundit within a year or so.
They had caught him early and clearly wanted to know who the hell he
was. Why? Well that was anyone's guess and I didn't much care. I just had
to find him.
No problem.
First thing was to hack into the newsnet user database. I already had
the access codes. I had traded em online with some kid hacker from Alaska.
heard later the kid got busted by the feds but I guess he had sense enough
to format his hard drive and only squeal on his gamer buddies.
Good kid that, now serving 5 years prolly be out in two.
I lifted the file from my laptop for the access code. Next to it was
the word Jessy. Hmm messy I must have been half asleep that night to
actually be stupid enough to put the kids handle next to the code. Then I
remembered, the kids handle was also the keyword. What had he said? Oh
yeah "Just so you don't forget me Ghost (one of my handles). remember I
did you a favor bud."
Yeah right Jessy I remember, anything else? I grinned in amusement. The
kid would get out of jail and be hired by some suits who would pay him
ridiculous amounts of money to make their shitty little corporation
"Secure". Course he could never do it. Imagine being out of the loop for 2
YEARS? It would be fatal to be out for 2 DAYS. Man that guy is gonna be a
dinosaur when he gets out. 21 years and already too old for the game.
That's the way it goes.
Putting the Jessy dweeb behind me I settled down to work. First Global
search for "Truth". I set two machines going on it. The GreyCard 200 and a
Hamatchi v1.3 They were opposing models and I wanted a bench test. Also it
was always good to have a backup. Even computers make mistakes, actually
ESPECIALLY computers make mistakes. Never trust a machine, take my word
for it as someone who has based his life around them. People are much
easier to understand and predict.
The Global search finished on both machines the Hamatichi finished 2
seconds ahead. 2 seconds was a helluva big gap. The machines were meant to
be the same top of the line speed. Something else to look into, like I
said you can never trust machines.
The results were disappointing to say the least. A big fat zero.There
was no address called "Truth" in the first national net I had tried. I set
my decks for another pass at another network.
While they were doing it I posted a letter on the net I had just
cleared.
04/17/03:28/INTMAIL@NATNET
INERMAIL
Subj:Personal
TO:TRUTH
FROM:N.Baker
CC:
Dear
Truth I have enjoyed reading your messages for sometime but I have noticed
you never publish anything yourself only answer the questions of others.
Why not put together a work of your ideas? I would glady help in this
endeavor if needed.
Yours,
A grateful
admirer
Nicholas Baker
The answer came back within 30 minutes. This guy was monitoring the
nets alright.
04/17/04:18/INTMAIL@NATNET
INTERMAIL
Subj:Personal
TO:N.Baker
FROM:TRUTH
The
way I see it can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve
them ones self?
I do not plan to publish or make any profit from
helping others.
Thank you for your letter.
Well if at first you don't succeed they say. I draughted another
letter. Meanwhile the next net I had checked came up blank. Fuck. That
discounted him being a SYSOP in the first net I had checked. Shame that
would have explained his ability to not be traced. I sent the next letter
still working the greed option.
04/17/04:20/INTMAIL@NATNET
INTERMAIL
Subj:Religous
conference.
TO:Truth
From:JP.Dough
Dear
Truth,
We are going to be holding an Interreligious conference on
Hawaii in June. We would like to have you attend as a speaker if possible.
We would fly you out there and pay for all your expenses. In addition we
are willing to pay you $50000 for your time. I hope you can
attend.
Yours,
JP.Doug
V.P Conference Board of
directors.
04/17/05:10/INTMAIL@NATNET
INTERMAIL
Subj: Religious
conference.
To: J.P.Dough
From: Truth
I am unable to
attend your conference. I do not plan to make any profit from helping
others. Thank you for your letter.
The butterfly counts not months
but moments, And it has time enough.
I looked at the screen in anger. That was twice now that this "truth"
guy had refused to give me any 'in'. Obviously somewhere along the line he
was on the take but how? If he wasn't going to get money from publishing
or appearances where was the take?
Not only that but he was a "ghost" I could not trace him. He wasn't
even using dummy accounts that forwarded to each other (that's how I
remain anonymous, never use remailers they are totally traceable). It took
me a while to admit it but he could do things I couldn't. Had I been the
best for so long I had lost it? Like some cheap western was this the 7
year old kid come up behind me saying "draw."?
The guy could somehow hack into the national nets and post and re post
without leaving a trace.
Better still he could receive mail and yet the system showed he didn't
exist! WTF?
I did another search, again using both the GreyCard and the Himatchi.
This time they came in dead even. So much for reliable technology. I got
even more religious bullshit back. I was really beginning to hate this
guy.
04/17/04:03/RELIGION@NATNET
To: Truth
From:
T.Daughty
Sub: God
Truth if you are monitoring this forum. I
have been following your teachings and find them full of wisdom. Tell me
in your opinion if there is a god why does he allow evil in the world?
Also what sort of God sits back and watches this evil?
04/17/04:33/RELIGION@NATNET
From: Truth
To: T.
Daughty
Sub: God
God and evil come from the same place. The
hearts of men.
Water which is too pure has no fish.
04/17/03:40/CURRNTAFS@NATNET
To: Truth
From:
[email protected].
Sub: Life
I am writing an article about
attitudes in modern day society. I would appreciate you input on the
meaning of life and how you feel the lack of modern day myths affect young
people today?
04/17/04:10/CURRNTAFS@NATNET
To: [email protected].
From
: Truth
Sub : Life
The meaning of life? That is a question
that takes exactly one lifetime to answer.
The young fear one day
they will turn into their parents.
They need not fear, they will
be much more conservative than their parents ever were.
I had just about had enough of this asshole. It had just become
personal. Not only was he a better hacker than I was but he was incredibly
patronizing in very way. So full of righteousness it wanted to make me
puke. Still it explained why the CR's wanted to find out who the hell he
was.
Anyone with his level of ability rightly scared the hell out of the
CR's. he had to be recruited or eliminated.
The question remained how was it possible for him to have such
incredible access to the national networks and still remain anonymous?
The next step was to test his power. How far was he on the networks? I
tried posting a message on the Military Personnel net. This net had
restricted access but was used primarily by military personal across the
world to keep in touch with each other and discuss social and political
issues.
However as it was military it was strictly private and was not part of
the Internet.
04/17/05:23/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:
Truth
From:S.J.Shop.
Subj: Religon in the army.
Hi
truth,
A buddy of mine told me you were an army chaplain so I
figured you were on here. I have a question. I am a military man but also
a Christian. Recently in the Middle east I know for sure I killed a man.
Will God be able to forgive me? can I continue my career knowing that it
involves killing? Didn't god himself say "Thou Shalt not
kill?"
Thanks, You are in my prayers.
Steve
I was shocked when the answer came back. Once again quick as a flash.
This guy was good. In fact It was getting creepy. It was almost like he
was watching all the time.
04/17/06:15/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:S.J.Shop
From:Truth
Subj:
Religion in the army.
A Christian is nothing but a sinful man who
has put himself to school for Christ for the honest purpose of becoming
better.
More nonsense but I gotta tell I was starting to feel like a had a
shadow across my world. This guy was scaring me big time.
I was by now feeling really tired. It was dawn and the irritating
chitter of the birds outside signaled for me that it was time to sleep.
Still I found I could not move. Like all puzzles this one got worse the
more you stared at it. I tried to put my thoughts in order while I did so
I lazily typed at the keyboard of my GreyCard.
C:>Truth
I sat and stared at the tiny black and white letters until my eyes hurt
and I was forced to glance away. I was reminded of a computer game I once
played. It kept me up for 2 days straight but I found it impossible to
stop. Every time I tried to get to sleep I would think of one more thing I
hadn't tried in a certain puzzle. Sometimes I got so frustrated I could
cry, I had wanted to call up the company and tell them just how lame their
game was but I was dissuaded by the greater fear that they might laugh at
a pathetic little boy who wasn't smart enough to work it out. Eventually I
finished it the feeling of triumph as the games credits rolled was almost
sexual. The only difference was that this time there was no guaranteed way
to win. This problem was not designed to be solved. Somewhere out there
was a better tech head than me. The despair was crushing.
I stared back at the monitor my eyes burning with fatigue.
What was written on the screen drove me insane.
I remember thrusting the monitor away from me with animal fear. It
crashed to the floor dragging the computer with it. That was not enough, I
picked up my chair and started smashing the screen in with the leg. Like a
hideous insect that had to be killed I did not rest until the monitor
finally went dark leaving only a faint burring smell. Finally I kicked it
away from me then fled to the opposite side of the room. I collapsed on
the floor and drawing my legs beneath me and stared at the husk of the
GreyCard monitor I had just destroyed. The machine had not been connected
to the modem. It had just been sitting there and somehow something had got
onto the screen.
On the screen had been written something under my doodle.
C:> Truth
C:> What is your question?
He had taken over my computer without a modem without knowing who I
was, just by mentioning his name it had happened. A chill ran down my
spine.
It must have been some minutes before I became human again. I had just
sat there in the corner gibbering like an animal. Then I started laughing
hysterically at the word that sprang into my mind.
Divine.
I made my way back over to my terminal and turned to the Himatchi. I
could hardly believe what
I was typing and yet I WANTED it with all my heart. I wanted it to be
true.
C:> Truth. Are you god?
I stared at the C: prompt and willed something to happen. I kept
staring. Nothing. Again I started to cry. Was I truly insane had I
imagined the whole thing? I stared at the screen again. Nothing. I watched
the clock. 10 minutes passed and the chittering of the birds invaded my
whole apartment. 20 minutes an sweat stared to form on my forehead as I
stared possessed at the screen.
30 minutes. Something happened.
I gasped.
On the screen was written
C:>Truth are you god?
C:>God will be present, whether asked or not.
C:>What is your question?
I was stunned rigid. How I had ridiculed all the preachers when they
said they had talked to God.
What men of faith to carry on the churches works in the face of my
ridicule. I had judged them by my own petty morality when I had assumed
they were on the take for money. I felt ashamed.
Through my window dawn was breaking the sunlight fell on the monitor
and I was suddenly aware of the birds singing, it was as if I had never
heard them before. The song filled me with a simple joy of a child. I knew
everything was going to be alright, somewhere out there someone was taking
care of things. There was order to it all, everything really did make
sense.
I looked at the screen. The words were truly biblical, cryptic yet
revealing the true face of God.
Then I looked again.
And again.
The devil part of me tapped me on the shoulder and pointed something
out. What was the meaning of putting "What is your question" at the
end?
Fearful I typed in another question.
C:>Will I be forgiven?
I stared at the screen.
For an hour.
Then another.
Something was wrong. In the back of my mind was the answer I knew it.
An idea crept into my mind and I put it into motion.
C:>Truth are you god?
Exactly 30 minutes later the answer came back.
C:>God will be present, whether asked or not.
C:>What is your question?
An exact repeat. 30 minutes. Infallibility? My body started to tingle
as the recognition hit me Human beings cannot be exact they cannot be
infallible. Frantically I searched through all my previous messages. As I
suspected all of them had taken EXACTLY 30 minutes to have the answer come
back.
All of them except one.
I punched it up on the screen again to recap.
04/17/05:35/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:
Truth
From:S.J.Shop.
Subj: Religon in the army.
Hi
truth,
A buddy of mine told me you were an army chaplain so I
figured you were on here. I have a question. I am a military man but also
a Christian. Recently in the Middle east I know for sure I killed a man.
Will God be able to forgive me? can I continue my career knowing that it
involves killing? Didn't god himself say "Thou Shalt not
kill?"
Thanks, You are in my prayers.
Steve
04/17/06:15/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:S.J.Shop
From:Truth
Subj:
Religion in the army.
A Christian is nothing but a sinful man who
has put himself to school for Christ for the honest purpose of becoming
better.
It had taken 10 extra minutes for this message to receive its answer.
Why? Was there something about this net that might give me a clue? I
punched it up again and entered the message on the hour exactly so I could
get a good measure. .I also entered the exact same message.
04/17/11:00/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:
Truth
From:S.J.Shop.
Subj: Religon in the army.
Hi
truth,
A buddy of mine told me you were an army chaplain so I
figured you were on here. I have a question. I am a military man but also
a Christian. Recently in the Middle east I know for sure I killed a man.
Will God be able to forgive me? can I continue my career knowing that it
involves killing? Didn't god himself say "Thou Shalt not
kill?"
Thanks, You are in my prayers.
Steve
04/17/11:30/USARMNETA/PRIVMAIL
To:S.J.Shop
From:Truth
Subj:
Religion in the army.
A Christian is nothing but a sinful man who
has put himself to school for Christ for the honest purpose of becoming
better.
Previously it had taken 40 minutes now this time it had taken 30.
Exactly the same input but different times, the second time that had
happened today. When I had run the first test between my Grey card and my
Hamutchi they had at first given the result at different speeds then the
same.
It was almost as if that the first time I accessed Truth on a new
network or machine there was a delay.
I had a moment.
Do you remember that moment when you were a teenager and you first
became aware? It varies person to person but there is that moment that
happens in everyone of us when we cease to be children and suddenly we
become aware of the world around us. That was the kind of moment that I
was undergoing. The solution was laid out before me like a blueprint.
This was a delay I had seen before. I am a virus expert, when I
released Dante on the world each new place it infested it required a few
minutes to copy itself throughout the system.
Truth was a virus. A small computer program that spread itself from
machine to machine. When someone entered the word "Truth" then it would
scan the enter message for certain keywords then print a series of
pregenerated responses from its database "Truth" was nothing but a fraud.
To think I had thought Truth to be God. Now God turned out to be an
infestation making his way from machine to machine repeating by rote some
stock phrases from one single text. So much for wisdom.
I felt angry. I had been made a fool of, worse still I had almost lost.
Whoever made this was going to pay.
I found the virus and quickly tore it apart for any clues as to who
wrote it. Strangely I found it immediately. It had been left in the code
easily readable like a signature it read simply -
FOXSTAB - Servant of the people
I had met my enemy.