52 Spring 2008
effectiveness. Think the ultimate asymmetric weapon in the hands of any number of terrorists. Imagine what just a few non-performing loans can do and multiply it a hundred-fold." Spike paled in spite of herself. "Imagine the whole internet having the stability of Second Life. In beta." "If it's not the money, what's in it for you?" S7ven held up his hand. "I want the bastard who did this to me." “What makes you so sure it’s the same guys?” “Years ago, I wrote the script that opened the Russian virus: a kind of zip-loc that would allow other programs to interface with it without being infected themselves. It was the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, who took it from me. Painfully.” Spike shifted uncomfortably. "But why me?" "How good are you at treasure hunts?" Spike acknowledged the implied compliment. She’d already proven to him she was good. "But surely any malicious code would be detected and erased from SL, wouldn't it?" S7ven smiled grimly. "But this code isn't malicious. It's just the upgrade. It is like a binary bomb; each component is harmless until you bring them together." "And," she continued, "it isn’t just in Second Life, is it? The code's components are spread throughout the web and in real life places too." "Now you are getting it," he said. "And then there is one final algorithm to tie it all together." "One ring to rule them all and in the darkhttp://sLiterary.com
ness bind them?" "Poetic, but close enough." S7ven looked at his watch. "You'd better get started; the hunt begins in fifteen minutes." To be continued...
© sLiterary Magazine 2008