The Ghost Network: Activate by I.I. Davidson

Author:I.I. Davidson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Published: 2019-04-02T23:28:03+00:00

John was on the verge of something; he could feel it. All I have to do is—

No. He didn’t know what he had to do.

With a muttered curse, he flopped back against the chair and stared at his laptop screen. He had settled himself in one of the small study rooms on the lower floor of the west wing; it was a little cramped, but unlike his own room, it was completely free of distractions like that tempting 3-D gaming console. There was nothing here but a desk, a swivel chair, the hum of the air-conditioning, and his own laptop.

But even that single screen was maddening. Lines of code flickered and scrolled across it, mocking him. This malware shouldn’t be so hard to combat. It wasn’t that hard; he knew it in his bones—if he could only find the hidden gate he knew was there, that elusive little tunnel of code that would take him to the digital heart of that stupid, stupid velociraptor. He wanted very badly to stab it right in the chest.

John shook himself. His violent dreams were more than enough to cope with, and they’d been getting increasingly worse. He certainly didn’t need to feed that thrill by fantasizing about killing things while he was awake—especially since he tried to be awake more and more of the time. His dreams while he was asleep were way too disturbing.

Apart from anything else, his father would disapprove—even of the imaginary killing of a pixelated dinosaur. John gritted his teeth and pulled the laptop back toward him. But he knew how to fight this malware. He shouldn’t be this frustrated in the first place. What would Dad tell me to do right now?

Closing his eyes, he pictured Mikael’s face in his mind. It had been getting harder to do that, but now he forced himself to focus. Akane would know how to do this. Clear your thoughts, she’d say. Empty your mind. Concentrate on one thing only.

Piece by piece, he reassembled his father’s features in his mind’s eye. Clear gray eyes. A craggy face, crinkled by smile lines. Dark blond hair swept back from his forehead. Squeezing his eyes tighter, John focused on bringing all the elements together.

There he is.

John found himself smiling. His father had always had a stubborn look, despite his laughing eyes—there was a light of determination in their depths. That was how Mikael had dealt with problems like John’s: by doggedly returning to them, over and over again, even when it seemed hopeless. Sometimes you’ve already hit on the answer. John could hear his father’s voice quite clearly. You’ve just missed the one small thing that will make the difference.

A single line of code. A single letter, even. Look long enough and there’s nothing that can hide from you. Just look. Mikael had been endlessly patient and tenacious.

Opening his eyes, John blinked at the laptop screen and took a deep breath. His fingers drifted back to the keys, and he began to type. The pathway was one he’d tried before, but he felt a tingle of renewed curiosity.

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