Computer security -- Fiction; Didactic fiction; Privacy, Right of -- Fiction; Records -- Access control -- Fiction
The following morning Scott awoke without telephone intervention
by the front desk. He felt a little on the slow side, an observa-
tion he attributed to either the time difference, not the jet
lag, or the minor after effect of copius cannabis consumption.
The concierge called a cab and Scott told the driver where he
thought he was going. Ya, no problem, it's a short ride.
To Scott's surprise he found himself passing by the same sex
emporium where he had left the Spook last evening. Scott reminded
himself to ask Spook how it went. The taxi stopped in front of
an old building that had no signs of use. It was number 44, but
just in case, Scott asked the driver to wait a moment. He walked
up the door and finding no bell, rapped on the heavy wooden door.
"Ya?" A muffled voice asked through the door.
"Is Jon there? This is Scott Mason." Scott knowingly looked at
the cab driver.
"Who?"
Scott looked at the number again and then remembered what Jon had
told him. "Sorry. This is Repo Man. Kirk said you'd expect
me."
"Ah, ya! Repo Man." The door opened and Scott happily waved off
the cab. "Welcome, please, come in." Scott entered a dark
chamber as the door closed behind him. "I am Clay, that's French
for key."
Wonderful, thought Scott. "Thanks for the invite. Is Jon here?"
"Everyone is here."
"I thought it didn't begin until eleven," Scott said looking at
his watch.
"Ah, ya, well," the Dutch accented Clay said. "It is difficult
to stop sometimes. We have been here all night."
Scott followed Clay up a darkened flight of steps. At mid land-
ing Clay opened a door and suddenly the dungeon-like atmosphere
vanished. Inside the cavernous room were perhaps 200 people,
mostly men, excitedly conversing and huddling over computers of
every imaginable model. The high ceiling was liberally dressed
with fluorescent tubing which accentuated the green hues from
many of the computer monitors. The walls were raw brick and the
sparse decorations were all computer related. Windows at the two
ends of the building added enough daylight to take some of the
edge off of the pallid green aura.
"What should I do?" Asked Scott looking around the large room
which was probably overcrowded by modern safety counts.
"The Flying Dutchman said he will see you a little later," Clay
said. "Many of our members know Repo Man is a reporter, and you
are free to look and ask anything. Please enjoy yourself." Clay
quickly disappeared into the congregation.
Scott suddenly felt abandoned and wished he could disappear.
Like those dreams where you find yourself stark naked in a public
place. He felt that his computer naivete was written all over
his face and he would be judged thus, so instead he tried to
ignore it by perusing the walls. He became amused at the selec-
tion of art, poster art, Scotch taped to the brick.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account