Bit Mania [Hacking]

"Welcome to Rhonda Stern Air Force Base. Here, everyone only calls each other by code names. What do you think?"

"In the school club, the code name is Elmo."

"Elmo?"

"Translates to 'Guardian'."

"Guardian... Heh, let's start with the researcher, do you have any objections?"

"No."

Admiral Modric walked to the entrance of the institute and turned back quickly. The young Asian in his sight was taking the materials handed over by others and looking at them seriously.

"Qi," his voice made everyone in the research institute stop, except the other protagonist of the conversation: "I will become the chief engineer within three years."

The movement of someone's fingertips paused slightly, and then turned a page.

"Remember to raise your salary."

Two years have passed since Qi Xingchu joined the air force base.This is a period of time, whether it is long or short, when the famous figures disappeared, the gunfire of the war ebbed and flowed, and thousands of miles away, the long-dormant guardian finally set up the shield, and behind the mask Eyes fixed on a certain direction——

At that moment, the killing intent in the darkness confronted face to face!

……

"Octo?"

"...Zixin?"

"Hmm... oh!" The person in front of him seemed to have just come back to his senses, and murmured, "Zheng Xiu..."

"What's the matter, stopped suddenly?" Zheng Xiu asked: "Has the tampering of the Earth Proximity Warning System been completed? What else should I calculate, inertial navigation speed?"

As if avoiding Zheng Xiu's sight inadvertently, Octo turned his head slightly, and the profile of his face under the faint screen light gave people the illusion of paleness and fragility for a moment: "...No, it's over."

After a pause, he said softly, "I'm hungry and want to eat cake."

"……this late."

Octo propped his head on his hands, but never looked at Zheng Xiu, and repeated: "But I want to eat."

"...I really have nothing to do with you, so I'll buy it for you." Zheng Xiu said, stood up to change the clothes to go out, and came out of the room after a while, and was about to put on his coat when he heard Octo shouting from behind. said.

"Zheng Xiu," he walked up to him, and tied a thick scarf around the young man's neck: "It's snowing outside."

Zheng Xiu was stunned for a while, and then there was always a smile on his expressionless face: "Thank you."

He put on his coat and opened the door. A gust of cold wind mixed with snowflakes came in. Zheng Xiu tightened the scarf around his neck and stepped into the snow. Sighing softly, he looked back as if consonantly, and the brown door closed quietly behind him.

It's already past eleven o'clock in the evening, and the cake shops are usually closed, but...he remembers that there is one store where they can still buy it, although the journey is a little further...

Many years later, he still remembers that it was a very, very cold winter.

When he returned to their temporary residence with the cake box, he saw six or seven strange four-box cars parked outside the house, surrounding their house, and the neighbors looked there timidly and curiously.The door was wide open, and several foreign men were leaning against the car door, their waists bulging slightly, apparently concealing weapons.There was an ominous chill in his heart, he subconsciously turned sideways to avoid the sight of these uninvited guests, took five seconds to calm down his breathing, and quietly observed and waited.

Half a month later, these people evacuated one after another.

When he returned there, the math manuscripts and the two main chassis with his own notes left in the room were all gone.

He called out "Zi Xin", but there was no response from the empty room. He pushed open the half-open bedroom door with gloves on, stood silently at the door for a few seconds, walked into the room, and opened the closet doors one by one. The door opened, looked inside, made sure no one was hiding inside, and closed it again.After doing these actions, he came to the bed where the quilt was neatly folded, half-kneeled down, bent down to lift up the hanging quilt, and surveyed the space under the bed.

No one is empty.

Unable to deceive himself with flimsy extravagance, he stopped what was almost childish and walked to the door of the temporary rental house. Looking around, there was a vast expanse of white snow, and the footprints he stepped on when he came back had disappeared. a pedestrian.

Snowflakes fell on the hair, and the heat of breathing transpired a faint mist.He slowly sat on the steps of the door, maybe because of the cold wind or something else, he felt a bout of dull pain in his head.

In December 12, the bitter cold wind blew all night. This was Octo's first arrest.

After that time, he never set foot in that house again, directly bought a plane ticket and left this country in Europe, all the way unimpeded.

He knew that it was Octo who protected him at the last moment, just like the instructions that man often put on his lips in the past.

"You don't need to learn hacking skills...you, just do the math by the side and calculate the data."

"But there's no need to deliberately avoid it..."

"Do you know why the gecko breaks its tail by itself," Octo said, "in order to retreat completely when there is no way to continue."

He knew that Octo destroyed part of the data belonging to Isreal, but the man himself couldn't retreat in time, and was alone in trouble.

This is what Octo has always planned.

Even if he could never touch that person's mind, he was always ordered to direct him, but at the most dangerous moment, that person chose to push Zheng Xiu away and took on everything alone.

-

"At the beginning of 99, he was extradited to the United States. I competed with him in the online world for five years, and finally saw Octo's true face for the first time. He sat quietly in court, unexpectedly young, like a future Adult, impressively long hands folded on lap. Confesses to what he did."

"Is it over? I asked myself; it's all over—I said to myself."

"—But why, I can't let go of my mind."

Because of the precedent of "Hell Hacker" Kevin Mitnick, the importance, or fear, of computer cybercriminals in the United States has become obvious, and he was finally sentenced to serve up to seven years.

Under the reporter's continuous flashing lights, the heavy iron gate of the prison slowly closed, and he watched the figure disappear behind the gate.

The second meeting was in a federal prison a month later.

I don't know what kind of mood it is, but for many days, I have been replaying the figure of the man in the court at that time in my mind. The past and the past are one after another, and I can't help but recall the confrontation between the two, as well as my own destiny that was completely changed by him. , the state of mind that has been as calm as water may have lost its calm a long time ago, and finally I have to admit that I actually don't want to cut off all ties with this person because of a victory or defeat.

Came to federal prison, applied for visitation, only to be told the man was in class.Because he holds a special permit from the military, and was not fully prepared for a formal meeting with that person, in order to avoid face-to-face embarrassment, he discussed with the prison guards, and according to the prison guards' instructions, he walked directly into the room in a low-key manner. prison area.

I imagined that he was unwilling to see me, and that his talent might bring all kinds of disturbances in the prison, but I never imagined that when I saw the man, he was sitting in the prison church with a group of prisoners in the pastor's room. Guiding hymns sung.

The pastor in white stood in front of the big cross, gently rubbing the Bible. The uneven singing of the prisoners was not professional, but it spread melodiously through the church, with a sense of tranquility and peace.

Not wanting to disturb the atmosphere at the moment, Xingchu gently half-closed the door, found an empty seat near the door and sat down, looking around, couldn't help feeling a little emotional, who would have thought that sitting here and singing in unison Are the people who sing the hymn the world's top criminals?

Big drug lords, mafia gangsters, professional killers, well-known doctors who sell human organs, terrorists, fallen government officials, and... Looking at Octo's soft sideburns and ear pinnae from diagonally behind, his eyes become somewhat Dazed.

At this moment, Octo turned his head as if aware of it, and met his eyes without any defense.

It is often said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, and the thoughts and thoughts of a person will seep through the eyes and let others perceive them.Although Qi Xingchu was young at the time, he had already experienced ups and downs in his life and dealt with various characters, but at this moment, he had to admit that he had never seen such a look in his eyes.

——At first glance, it seems empty, just like every hopeless prisoner here; She showed him a vague and fleeting smile.

If it is said that there are eyes that can suck people's souls away, then at this moment, Qi Xingchu, who was soaked in cold sweat, admitted that he had seen it with his own eyes.

The sun shines in through the stained glass windows of the church and shines on people's faces and bodies. It is said that once the sunlight passes through the stained glass, it becomes a divine light that purifies the dirt in the world, and the spirit of God comes to the world.And at that moment, Octo, bathed in that blurred light, was like a combination of contradictions, mysterious like a god, and wise enough to be almost evil.

"GOD, JESUS, HOLYSPIRIT." After singing, the pastor made a sign of the cross.

The crowd stood up one after another and left one after another. He stood there, passing Octo.Somehow, I suddenly remembered a sentence I once saw in the Gospel of Baroba: —— "I can explain the message of God, but I reject the image of God..."

——“My name is Satan, that is, the guardian angel of hell.”

After returning, Qi Xingchu calmed down alone, and couldn't help but start thinking about some more far-reaching issues.

What kind of person will Octo become after being released from prison for seven years?Is it to change your mind, or to persevere?If it is the latter, then how should I choose? ...Start a new round of confrontation with him, fight again and lose both?

Wait, both losers... both hurt?

He turned off the shower, stood in front of the mirror, and looked at his face in surprise. Since he helped the FBI successfully capture the top hacker Octo, this face has frequently appeared in the headlines of newspapers in recent days, "Young Genius", "Top "Security Expert", "No. [-] in the United States"... being crowned with various titles, whether false or real, it is not an exaggeration to say that the scenery is the same, but... why is it almost impossible to feel the joy of victory? On the contrary, it is Taking this obvious victory for granted as a loss for both sides?

And why do you feel deeply tired once you think about the possibility of fighting Octo in the future?

...and Octo?

In seven years, more than 500 days and nights will live in an isolated iron cage with black and white reversed. After he is released from prison, will this society accept the empty-handed and full of crimes? he?Will he set foot on the path of crime again?

There are really too many unknowns in the future.

Tossed and turned all night.

A few days later, Qi Xingchu appeared in front of Octo again.

"What are you doing again?"

"Hey..." Xing Chu touched his nose: "Do you want to eat chocolate?"

This time, he chose to take the initiative.

For him, for him, and for some other people in this world, Qi Xingchu started a life of running on both sides of the base prison.Not long after, Admiral Modric came to the door.

"I heard you often go to see Octo recently?" Seemingly casual, the admiral changed his shoes, walked into Qi Xingchu's bachelor apartment, looked around, opened the refrigerator, there were only fresh ingredients, not even a can of beer, simple The arrangement shows the owner's self-discipline: "Why, what did you find?"

"Well, Octo has a sweet tooth."

It was such an innocuous answer, Modric's eyes flashed coldness, and he asked straightforwardly: "Qi, what are your plans for him?"

"I want to try to convince him." Qi Xingchu lowered his eyes.

"Persuasion? It's a good idea." Hearing this, the admiral finally showed his first smile when he entered the door: "...But, dear Qi, don't end up being yourself who is persuaded."

Qi Xingchu just smiled.The "persuasion" he refers to is different from what the general thinks.