Chapter #32Codifying a Crazy Plan by: Nostrum   As much as telling Cassandra the truth seems like the right thing, you need everyone in the same page. If Cassandra can’t accept it, she’ll tell Barbara and your efforts to help them will be for nothing. Perhaps it’s the lingering guilt from Tina’s decision that prompted you to it, alongside the realization that this could be solved by having Jessica’s mom (and Jimmy’s) talk to her.
You must focus on the greater issues – like clearing Barbara’s and Tessa’s names, and protecting your family from Tessa’s enemies. Just like Tina set her issues aside and trusts you’ll fix this, so you’ll have to let things aside and hope for the best.
“Thanks,” you tell Cassandra. “I’ll... go warn your sisters about it. And if I figure out how you can help us, I’ll tell you.”
“Alright,” she replies with a hearty smile. It’s a smile that makes you think you’d ask her out – if you were in college and never met Jessica. Which makes wearing Quentin extremely awkward, despite wearing him once. (Twice, if you count when you wore him alongside Cassandra.)
The process itself is no longer a mystery to you. Perhaps it’s because it’s a guy, but the way you slide your toned legs into his lanky ones, fighting the slimy clinginess until it blends with yours. As you stretch and nudge his thighs into yours, you notice something you didn’t before. He’s taller than you – a couple inches, to be precise – which gives him a gangly look.
This, you suspect, will prove to be a problem, His legs and abdomen are longer, which will make your own clothes look comically undersized. Of course, that only matters if you step out, but you’re not planning to. You’ve got your own computer and a good Internet connection. Why go out as him?
After inhaling a large lungful of air, you finish the transformation by stretching his face over yours. You expect Claire will mock you for his appearance, but you’re more worried about Cassandra’s, as she’ll hear the voice and see the man that wore her for the first time.
There’s one more thing left, though. You grab the brown pen you borrowed from your mother, then lay on your bed, ready to fight his perverted thoughts...
--
The first mistake you made was thinking this was easy. The second mistake was that you thought you wouldn’t need to be outside. The third mistake was thinking that there might not be any more mistakes.
To your fortune, things didn’t go as you thought. Yes, your clothes are hanging from your arms, your abdomen and your calves, and you could see the fear in Cassandra’s eyes, but Claire and your mother soothed things out, and you explained how things work.
It’s when you tried to explain your plan that things went haywire. For one, you don’t want anything tracking you, meaning you’ll need to download a new browser. Not just that, you need to pirate a working copy of several pieces of software – C++, Java, Python, the works.
You lament you didn’t have the foresight to bring Quentin’s computer, since that would make things a lot easier. You’d have access to all the bots, worms, trackers and other bits of ‘ware you built over the years.
What you have, though, is a hastily-worked plan – and that will involve getting a lot of permissions. “You’ll have to be comfortable breaking the law,” you warn everyone.
“Why?”
“Well, I’ll have to pirate some apps and programs if I want to make this passive.” Barbara glares at you, free from your mother’s skin, prompting you to answer. “It's not like in the movies. This takes time. Either I stay logged in and do an active check-up, or I need to riddle them with bots and trackers.”
“Explain it to me like I’m five,” the middle of the Wright sisters demands you.
You sigh, rubbing your (borrowed) forehead. “Okay. If I do things actively, I need to stay logged to the server where they store all their e-mails. That means checking them one by one, looking for key words we can use to refine that search. We also need to do that at a moment they’re not monitoring activity, or else they’ll know someone’s in and press the panic button.”
“Sounds like something I could do.”
You scoff. “Yeah. Tell me how you’re gonna get into the FBI databases.” As you stare her down, acknowledging her defeat, you explain your plan. “If I do this, I can only keep an eye on one database. If I put on some bugs inside, I could have them check the keywords for me, send a copy of those e-mails, then see who’s working on your mother’s case.”
“Can’t you bug their phones or something?”
You grunt. “Like I said, not like the movies. If I had authorization to get into their network, cool. That still doesn’t do anything, ‘cos that’s more complicated than you think. To give you an idea – we need to know the signal tower they’d be using, their number, the number of all people involved, and that’s to justify asking a court to give us authorization to see those messages.”
“Huh?” Barbara tries to fight back, but you’ve baffled her. “Alright. And that’d help us how?”
“Very little, since the FBI could say that information’s classified or something.”
“So you’re saying it’s impossible.”
“What I’m saying is that we’ll have to do it differently. I suppose you’ve heard of ‘social engineering’, right?”
Barbara and your mother give queer looks at you, but Cassandra and Claire quickly get it. “Uh, is it like fooling people on the Internet through social media or something?” “You mean phishing and that stuff.”
“Pretty much. What we need is to figure out who’s the idiot that hasn’t changed their password in a lifetime so we can sneak in.”
“And how d’you expect to do that?” your mother asks. “You’re dealing with county and Federal law enforcement.”
“And like everyone, there’s the smart one and the dumb onbes. So we filter out where the dumbest of them all are. And usually, dumb people do stupid things.”
“Take that lesson to heart, Davey.” The collective glare you give Claire shuns her down instantly. “Alright, I was joking!”
“What I mean is that the dumbest people will often out themselves. They’ll probably keep a trail brighter than the breadcrumbs from the story with the kids and the witch.”
“You mean Hansel and Gretel.”
“Yeah, Claire-bear, that one. You can bet some of these guys will spend their money on hookers and other less-savory stuff. All we need is their e-mail addresses.”
“But I thought you said--”
“That’s if we wanna do it the legal way. You get their e-mails, then you start phishing – making an e-mail that looks real, but that’s designed to get their personal info. If the hooker plays her cards right, we might even personalize it.”
“I see,” Barbara says, deducing the rest. “And with that, you’ll check their e-mails.”
“Or I could use them to see how their security system works. Find a way to bypass it. Maybe see if I can fool the admins into giving me access to their database – and if not, at least know who to convince next. Again – sifting through them to find the dumbest.”
“There’s just one problem,” Claire points out. “How’re we gonna fool them?”
You pull your cheek until it stretches. Though it makes everyone squeamish, you prove your point. “We’ve got something they don’t.”
“You’re planning to use the skins to sleep with those people?”
“I’m planning to use the infrastructure I--” You bite your tongue, as you’re channeling your guest too deeply. “That Quentin made for Tessa. We could let the clones do that for us – all we need is to suggest they get their business cards or something.”
“You think that’s possible?”
“A horny man can be convinced of anything.” You glare at Claire as you prepare for her comeback.
“There’s another issue,” Barbara points out. “We're already doing something illegal. Shouldn’t we avoid alerting law enforcement?”
“If we can convince them we’re the good guys... You can let--” you say while pointing at your mother. “Uh, let Ashley talk to them. Tell them that you got a confidence in their case. If they ask, we’re gonna come clean, saying we want to clear their names. That might make them look like heroes, so they’ll take the bait.”
“And if they don’t?”
You take a deep breath. “At least we tried. Made them look like fools.”
Barbara pushes her seat away, walking in circles around you. “You’re telling me you want us to hack into the FBI database by waking up those cloned girls in hopes we find the right people to present our case, and THEN hope they ignore we broke the law?”
You wince. “Pretty much? It’s either that or going blind and getting screwed by whoever’s working for your dad.”
“I don’t even know what to do anymore.” After a moment of thought, she shakes her head. “But the alternative’s worse. Better to be in prison than dead, I guess.”
“At least if they listen to us, you won’t be accused of what Ross did.” You look at them, realizing you must reassure them. “It’s gonna work. Have faith.”
--
Shortly after the group talk, you intercept your mother while everyone’s absorbing the plan. Barbara left to wear the replacement skin, while Claire and Cassandra seem to bond over the whole experience.
You, however, have other plans. “Hey. I, uh...”
“If it’s about what you’re going to do? I wouldn’t want you to, but you seem convinced.”
“It’s not that. I need to ask a couple favors from you.” (You’re no stranger to ask your mother for favors, but this will stretch her trust in you.)
“Are they related to the plan?”
“Pretty much. I’m gonna need an advance on my allowance. And... I might need to borrow the green pen.” You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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