Kernel Panic [Mia]

[Mia Keystone]

There were rules about punching teachers. There were rules against punching teachers. Still, Mia’s fists clenched and her eyebrows snapped together. ”There are between three and four techs online with Hammel every day, at all times,” Mia snapped, and yes, maybe she was defensive, but this was what she did! ”And yes, people know me. But people still haven’t found me, even with you, Mr Roboto, writing a research paper on the so called trail I leave!” Her voice was slowly rising in volume as she scowled. ”So fuck you, and fuck your predictability, because I haven’t been caught yet.”

Not with just hacking at least. And what she had learnt? Never, ever, ever print off anything. Ever.

As he kept talking, the technopath’s hands were moving quickly, following the directions Kaylee was sending. By the word ‘algorithm’, she had half the sides finished. By ‘save the world’ she was finished and tossed it back, still scowling. ”Great, so pick the lock, don’t blast it off. I get that. But I don’t use algorithms,” she touched the metal of Aternity’s wrist and, as fast as a thought, traced up the shiny signal humming at the base of his neck and, staring into her teachers eyes with an obstinate scowl, clenched her own fist. His followed suit. With a heartbeat she pulled out, because if hacking was bad, then hacking a teacher’s body, well, part of it, would be worse.

”I override,” she snapped. ”I’m override. No-one gets how tech metas work computers, not even other techs. So if you want to teach me, great. If you call me predictable or suggest I’m bad at what I do, you can go and teach that weird redhead chick how to talk politics with eggplants.” Yes, that’s right. Mia was threatening not going to class and learning if it meant having someone patronize her.

Nose, it was nice knowing you. Love face.

Also, Mia was fighting the urge to try and see if she could get Aternity’s hand to turn against him and try and strangle him like in the movies. Because that would be very, very cool. It would also get him to stop looking all superior.

What, Mia Keystone, unable to take criticism? Perish the thought!

[Dr. Aternity Awren]

Of course she was going to be bitter. It's just how Aternity worked sometimes. He found a flaw, and sought to correct it in the best way possible. The problem was in this case, that the flaw was something that was so engrained into her head, that it was more or less a fundamental part of how she worked. So of course she wouldn't want to get rid of it. Hell, Aternity wouldn't change many of his own methods without an extremely good reason, so why should she? In all honesty, because she was a technopath, there was honestly no reason to change. A technopath had no real IP address, and she had a disposable computer. Her own security measures were top-notch. But there was one. Huge. Glaring. Problem. Yes, one that called for that many periods. And it had to do with a single thing she had said.

”So fuck you, and fuck your predictability, because I haven’t been caught yet.”

"Are you sure?"

Aternity turned to his own machine, opened up Google, and typed in a couple search terms. After clicking a link, he turned his laptop toward Mia so that she could better see it, although hell might freeze over if she actually thought to read it.

"Hacking is not all about systems security, Mia. The fact of the matter is, I knew I wouldn't be able to breach your laptop to find your information, but I didn't need to. You walked in here on your own. Social engineering is generally easier to perform on people than breaching their systems...and it's even more effective on those that have recorded and often used methods for what they do. Admittingly, you were lured in here, and it worked."

He shook his head and closed the lid of his own machine before speaking again. Aternity wasn't even attempting to defuse the situation. He was just telling it like it was. Threats were absolutely of no use.

"No, I suspect that I don't total knowledge on how you do the things you do, and nor am I going to sugarcoat what I say. Do I want to teach you? Yeah. Are my methods the most fun thing you've ever done? Probably not. But you'll certainly be better for listening. And I might get some insight on how you work as well."

And there it was. One thing he had to say. She could take it or leave it. Aternity wouldn't ever turn Mia in himself should she decline the offer, but as security evolved? It was unlikely he would ever have to do it. She would manage that by herself.