Coding Fantasy [Kallisti]

[Liam H]

Liam looked at the message and where it had originated from "Tracer is one of the good ones. Considers himself a little like Robin Hood. Many hackers do that, some are better at it than others."

He shrugged. "He looks like he beefed up your security a little, not that it was bad to begin with. Sky did most of the heavy lifting I see Wicked's AI fingerprints in the decryption."

[Marta]

Liam was good at this stuff. Marta was picking it up fast, but she realized she had a lot to learn. ”So his offer of assistance is genuine and responding would be safe? And if he’s a Robin Hood type, he’s going to probably steal from them?” it wasn’t a question of morality, but just one to make sure she was clear.

She felt a warmth in her chest at that. Someone wanted to help - and it seemed like he wanted to help directly. He had also beefed up her security. She could see it when it was pointed out. Liam was right - it wasn’t needed. ”Wicked assured me that whatever I say will not be traced to me. So why would he…oh…it’s because I’m a victim.” it hit her quickly. The additional layer was added protection to increase the chances no one would find her. It felt nice that someone else cared like that.

[Liam H]

Liam nodded. "As safe as it is to talk to any hacker." He chuckled, he was among those he was warning. Wicked too. "Probably. A little less money for the cartels is probably a good thing."

Liam pulled her laptop closer and installed his own security on top of Wickeds. "Now no one should be able to harm you here. You might have three looking out for you now." He grinned.

[Marta]

Marta smiled - she understood that. She closed the message. She would respond to Tracer later. ”Three partially trustworthy individuals watching my back. That seems interesting. I’ll either get help or a dagger,” she laughed. It was a joke. Wicked wouldn’t hurt her that way for no other reason than she was under Nox’s protection. She doubted Liam would. Tracer she didn’t know personally, so he was a bit of a wild card. She knew enough to trust him for now.

Marta went first to the dark web game. Games worked well for her. She didn’t go on the dark web often. She had to avoid some things there, and not just because there were bad people there. Some of it triggered memories of the cartels. She began with the first level. Like most it was easy and she moved on to the next one quickly. It would get exponentially harder as she went she knew. But even then things began to click for her.

She got through the first few rather quickly. ”How’d you get started. Computers and hacking I mean. I really don’t know you that well. Just that you’re here sometimes and your dad is some sort of business man. Paragon I think.” she debated mentioning she knew about his crush on Sterling. They just needed to be together and quit making googly eyes at each other.

[Liam H]

Liam chuckled. He liked Marta. She was funny.

But then she asked how he got started. He shrugged. "I was bored. I need something to challenge me. I started changing grades. It wasn't hard." He said. "The teacher left her password by her keyboard. The rest of me isn't important. I don't like people knowing even that much, but I guess when The Wicked Truth holds the reigns to your network little things like that get spread around."

[Marta]

Marta turned and gave a flat look at his response. They were friends - certainly he could give her more than that. She hadn't asked for his secrets or anything. She just wanted to know more about him. "The rest of you not being important is wrong, but," she turned back to her screen. "I won't push if you don't want to share. Someday I'll be able to find out on my own anyway." She turned to him and gave a conspiratorial grin.

If she really wanted to, she had access to Sage's information. She could probably learn more very easily. She was certain Sage probably had a lot on Liam, but this was a trust thing. She really wouldn't push if he didn't want her to, and even with her statement, she wouldn't look it up if he didn't want her to. They were friends and she didn't want to ruin that.

"You won't tell me anything though...like hobbies...or what you do besides computers. Like...I like comic books and drawing. You like anything like that."

She then went to the site where she could practice breaking into sites and making reports on their weaknesses. She picked one and began to look through it, trying to see if she could apply anything she had learned. This site wanted to make sure their client data was protected. Since it was a test site, the data would be false, but it would test whether or not it was secure. It was a lot of information though and she was moving through it slower than Liam probably was. She looked through it as she listened to what Liam was saying. She thought she saw a hole, but wasn't sure. She figured she could just try and see what happened.

Marta began to type code, but found herself blocked. She was sure she was on the right track, she just needed to find the right command. "The weakness is here...I know it..." she said quietly. She put in another command and then it was there. A site with the names, addresses, phone numbers, and credit card numbers or their false clients.

Marta's jaw dropped. "I...I don't know what I did...but I did it," she giggled a bit. It was kind of amusing, but it was a big boost to her confidence.

[Liam H]

Liam chuckled. "I go to highschool online because I'm a trouble maker. I work for my dad so that I didn't go to jail after getting caught doing what I do for a hobby." He grinned at Marta. "I'm not supposed to do what I do but I do it anyway. I don't have any other hobbies. I think three personalities is enough." He grinned playfully.

He watched as Marta worked out the problem. There were different ways to go about it and she managed to find one that worked for her. "That's good. Now you just have to repeat it again, and again, and again. And you'll be a hacker." It really was all about practicing.

[Marta]

Marta sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. Did this guy not know how to have fun. Yeah hacking and computers were fun, but that was his job too. He needed to relax and do something different. She closed her laptop and turned to face him, giving him a level look.

”Liam. Gregory. Haart,” she said, emphasizing each name. She didn’t know his middle name, so she made one up. ”You’re what - 15? 16? If I have to follow Nox’s rule and be a kid you do too. We gotta find you something fun to do that’s not work!” She turned to Sterling and grinned. ”Help me out here, Sterling!”

She leaned towards Sterling, tapping a finger on her chin conspiratorially. Then her eyes lit up. ”You know we might be able to kill two birds with one stone here. I grew up in Mexico. We didn’t have this weird fluffy white stuff you call snow. That means I’ve never experienced a good old fashioned snowball fight. I think that’s what we need. What do you think, Sterling?” she turned back to Liam. ”And you have to play!”

[Sterling]

Sterling giggled. "Yes. Let's go outside and have a snowball fight. There's a space in back of Nox's building that's fenced in and the little ones can come play too." Jackson, Noah, Emily and Sophia were around too, they were getting ready to go to a real school when the next semester started, but they were still here for the holidays. "Everyone can play."

Sterling grabbed Liam by the elbow and dragged him out of his chair.

[Liam H]

Sterling grabbed his elbow and while Liam wanted her to keep touching him he pulled away. "Uh. No. I don't think so. I'm not exactly an outside guy." He said stepping back from the very insistent girls.

"You might think what I do is boring and dull and monotonous, but I like it. I'm happy. I'm not a normal kid. I don't play games. This is the first time I've really ever had any friends that aren't digital. So I'm gonna pass. But if you want to play video games or do something inside I'm game. I don't do the outdoors. Specially in Moscovian winter."