Freedom TM

looped for these companies.”
    “What about the corporate
data
, damnit!”
    The analyst shrugged. “That’s going to take some time to determine. We’re running on the proven evidence that invoking the Destroy function destroys a given company’s data. Blocking it blocks the destruction sequence.”
    “But can’t we just check these servers?”
    “It’s hard to tell where code is executing nowadays, sir. With a global blackout in place, we won’t be able to use the public Internet to connect.”
    “Jesus Christ.” Connelly studied the screen.
    Suddenly sections of the world starting coming back to life on the large center screen that displayed Earth from space. Lights across Europe, Russia, and Asia were clicking back on in sections.
    “Goddamnit! Why is the blackout ending? I didn’t order an end to the blackout!”
    The board operator looked up. “We’re not doing it, sir.”
    “Then who is?”
    Just then they could see video on the distant plasma televisionsautomatically start as the Daemon Industries, LLC, logo was swept away in a colorful animation.
    “Bring one of those onto the big board!
Now!
”
    The board operator spoke into his headset and suddenly grainy video of an Asian Korr Military Solutions special forces captain moved into view and saluted into the camera. “Sir!” His image pixelated momentarily by the satellite delay. His voice came through fuzzy with satellite distortion. “Overlord, we’ve secured objective four-thirty-nine.”
    “Get the hell out of the way, damnit! Let me see the screen. Have that soldier focus his camera on that television screen!”
    The captain dodged out of the way and the helmet cam focused on what looked to be an infomercial already in progress. Cheerful music accompanied a montage of images showing darknet operatives working together. Smiling young faces, wearing HUD glasses, working with fab lab equipment, fiber optics, agriculture, and alternative energy.
    “Bring up the sound!”
    The distant infomercial music crackled as it filled the speakers in the big command center. The montage faded out and to every-one’s horror dissolved into a familiar face— Matthew Sobol. He was sitting in a wing chair next to a roaring fireplace and looked healthy. Words appeared at the bottom of the screen:
    Matthew A. Sobol, Ph.D.
    Chairman and CEO, Daemon Industries, LLC
    Sobol nodded to the camera as the music came to a close. “Hi. If you’re watching this video, it means you just tried to take over the world. Now, you all know who
I
was. But until now, I couldn’t be certain who
you
were. Thankfully, your recent actions helped to clarify things.” He took a moment to place another log on the fire, and he stabbed at the flames with a poker.
    Connelly, Johnston, the Weyburn Labs team, and the entiredata strike force watched the video playing in every data center in simulcast.
    Sobol looked up again after putting the fire poker away. “I knew it would only be a matter of time until you broke into the darknet. No system is completely secure. Of course, you would scour my code for flaws. So I gave you some good ones.” Sobol smiled amiably. “As we sit here, the companies you attempted to harm are perfectly safe. However, the Daemon is deleting
your
personal and business wealth, and is, in fact, destroying all the data and backup tapes of the companies you sought to protect.”
    He held up his hands reassuringly. “Now, please don’t get agitated and head for the doors because it’s already too late. Your greed caused you to concentrate your investments in a very specific way among a handful of companies—companies that someone just tried to defend with a lame-ass formatstring hack—even while the rest of the corporate world was targeted en masse with the Destroy function. That’s what we call an
anomaly
, and it has a signature that can be detected. The private individuals who were involved in this activity are now known to the Daemon. And what’s more, most of your wealth, the source of all your power, no longer exists. Money, after all, is just data, and yours has been erased.”
    Connelly looked up at the network analyst. “Damnit, if the power’s back on, get on the phone with our people and find out if this is just nonsense!”
    The network analyst got busy, but a lot of the other people in the room were looking concerned.
    Sobol was already talking again on screen. “What’s more, the Daemon will continue to destroy the resources of