Ghostwalker 08 - Street Game

for him, I recognize this. It’s definitely my program.”
    “Are you certain?” Mack asked. “How can you tell?”
    “Look at the screen.” Jaimie pointed it out. “Look what it reads.”
    Mack stepped close and peered at the laptop.

    ENTER
    YOUR
    MEMEMETRIC
    PASSWORD
    [
    ]
    [
    ]
    [
    ]
    [
    ]
    [
    ]
    [
    ]

    “This is my program. There’s no doubt. No other program has an access screen like that or refers to ‘mememet ric’ passwords for memory instead of biometric.”
    “Tell me you left a backdoor,” Javier said.
    “Of course. Doesn’t every programmer? I should be able to go into any computer using my program and get their six-word password. I just have to load this little tool program of mine.”
    “I’m so in love with you, Jaimie,” Javier said. “Sorry, boss, I can’t help it, she’s a mega badass.”
    Mack shrugged. “As long as you know you’re risking getting yourself shot. Then I’m okay with it.”
    “Uh-oh.” Jaimie took a drink of her coffee, frowning at the laptop. “Very clever, my boy. You found the backdoor and closed it, didn’t you, smart one? But you’re not dealing with just anyone here. I wrote this mother. It’s my brain-child, honey. You’re not defeating me. Good try, but I never leave anything to chance. Let’s just see how clever you really are.” She set her iced coffee down a good distance away and began typing on the keyboard again.
    “Talk to me, honey,” Mack said. “Not to the machine.”
    “He found my main backdoor and shut it down, but I’ve got another, much more subtle. And he didn’t find it. No one would unless they knew exactly where to look and what to look for. The first one would have given me his six-word password straight away. Much easier.” She hunched closer, her eyes glued to the screen. “But this isn’t impossible. What the second backdoor enables me to know is which
    ‘experience schema’ the password is based on—and that should narrow down the possibilities.”
    Mack groaned. “Narrowing things down sounds like it will take some time.”

    168

    “Of course it will. The kid’s good. He managed to get his hands on top-notch protection. It’s his bad luck that it’s my program.”
    Javier burst out laughing. “Everyone calls him ‘the kid.’ He’s older than you are, Jaimie.”
    “Everyone’s older than she is,” Mack pointed out.
    “Ha, ha, ha,” Jaimie said, without looking away from the screen. “There you go, boys. ‘Low-grade traumatic childhood experience.’ I’ve got him now.”
    Javier lifted an eyebrow. “How is knowing that going to help us figure out his six-word password, Yoda?”
    “Because, little grasshopper, as creator of the program, I know how the program goes from the schema to the six-word password.”
    “Yeah, well, I don’t,” Mack said.
    “See the six pairs of brackets where you’re supposed to type in your six-word password?” Jaimie pointed to the screen. “Here, let me show you.” She dragged a notebook across the desk and hastily sketched a picture for them.

    LOCATION WHAT HAPPENED WHY TRAUMATIC [ WORD1 ] [ WORD2 ]
    [
    WORD3
    ]
    [
    WORD4
    ]
    [
    WORD5
    ]
    [
    WORD6
    ]

    “My backdoor showed us that his six words describe a ‘low-grade traumatic childhood experience’ that he had. As the designer of the program, I happen to know that, together, word one and word two describe the location where that experience occurred, such as ‘cellar stairs’ or ‘front yard.’ Word three and word four describe what happened—something like ‘pit bull growling’ or ‘gun fired.’ And the final two words are used to describe why it was traumatic, like ‘terrified me,’ that sort of thing.”
    “Jaimie,” Mack said in his best you’re-driving-me-crazy-get-on-with-it voice.
    “Okay. Sheesh, Mack, things take time. I’m running a special purpose, ‘brute force’ program. The two words for the ‘location’ are drawn from a database of about a million words. The two words for ‘what happened’ are drawn from another database of about a million words. And the two words for ‘why the experience was traumatic’
    are drawn from a database of about 100,000 words.”
    “That sounds like it’s going to take more time than I think we have.”
    “Mack, come on,” Javier said. “This is a miracle. If Jaimie hadn’t written the program in the first place, it would be virtually impossible to even get close. We’d have to try all combinations of six words and that