153 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
153 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
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***** The Adventures of Molly Modem *****
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Episode #3: Troubles in Computer Land
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Guest author: Ken Polsson
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Airdate: 1987 OCT 9
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When we left Molly, she had finished programming on the BEAST, and
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gone to bed. Unknown to Molly, a strange black van was moving
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stealthily through the neighbourhood.
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"Hmmm, the 80666 is somewhere in this vicinity" declared Doctor
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Node. "But in which building I cannot be certain. My receiver will
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only activate when the processor is active." They drove around for
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awhile, staking out the area.
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"Perhaps we should wait here until it is fired up, boss" suggested
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Baud Job.
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"No," responded Node, with an evil look in his eye. I have a
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better idea. A way to draw its user out into the open, into... our
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trap!" The two laughed wickedly as they drove off.
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Later the next day, at the secret location of Farwest BBS, located
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a few dozen metres underground, in a nuke-proof bomb shelter, Ren and
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Michael were hard at work on the super ROM burner. The latest in
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high-tech equipment lined the walls, with a huge cooling unit humming
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in a corner. The ROM burner was being designed to show VonCriptic
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what "toast" means, in a computer sense. Michael was pouring over
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some PC hardware specs, as Ren soldered various components together.
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"Then use pin 8 on the 74818 as a reverse feedback into pin 20 of
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the RS-232 connector" instructed Michael.
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Ren looked puzzled. "But won't that.." started Ren.
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"Exactly!" interrupted Michael. "When we detect VonCriptic's
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BBS-killer being uploaded, we throw a switch and the BEAST will feed
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50,000 volts through the phone lines! What I wouldn't give to
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see VonCriptic's PC-Talk scream in pain over that one!"
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They busied themselves with putting the finishing touches on the
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interface, then prepared the BBS for connection with the BEAST.
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Elsewhere, Molly was glancing through the noticeboard at Tesseract
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Software during her lunch break. Her eyes suddenly widened at a
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surprising ad: "For sale: 80667 hyperbolic coprocessor for 80666-based
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systems. One only, $200 firm. 228-3562 anytime." Molly ripped the
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note off the board and rushed out to a payphone.
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Upon dialing the number, she was answered by a gruff voice.
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"Hello, I understand you have an 80667 coprocessor for sale?" inquired
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Molly.
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"That's right," was the response, "no 80666 should be without
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one."
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"But, how do you know about the 80666?" questioned Molly.
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"Oh, I've been selling those babies for months now." was the line
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Molly was handed. "Are you interested then?"
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Molly didn't believe that story for a second, but being the
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curious type, she just had to find out the real story. "Well," she
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started, "I suppose so. Where can I see the chip?"
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"I'll meet you in front of... Fort Micro Systems, in ten minutes."
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"Ten minutes!?" exclaimed Molly. "Click" was all she heard.
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"Hello? Hello?" Molly hung up the receiver and started off to Fort
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street.
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Meanwhile, in the offices of CompuSpec, a computer software firm
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of the Keener Systems chain, something evil was that way coming.
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Malcolm Fudd, the company's accountant, was transferring the day's
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business transactions through to the head office's computer.
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"What the...?" exclaimed Malcolm.
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Bryn "Squirrelly" Jones, CompuSpec's head software developer,
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wandered up to Malcolm. "Problem?" Bryn inquired. He was used to
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solving the troubles of novice users. Malcolm was the ultimate
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novice. Three weeks of WordPerfect training only taught him how to
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move the "little flashing block" on the screen. Look up "novice" in
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any computer dictionary, and you'll see his picture. You know the
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type.
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Malcolm pointed at the screen. "What's all that stuff about...
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'Evil Empire'?"
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Bryn squinted at the screen and read. "What the f*** is going on?"
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he pondered aloud.
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"Ooo, my virgin ears!" could be heard sarcastically from one of
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the offices.
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"Let me at that." instructed Bryn. He sat at the terminal and
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whizzed off a few inquiries.
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The screen flashed, and a text logo of a pirate was drawn,
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followed by the message: "This database has been hijacked! Welcome to
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VonCriptic's Evil Empire!"
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Bryn tried desperately to remove the offender from the system.
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Using the head office's account, he tried to kill the illegal process,
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but the message "No such process." kept appearing. And every once in
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a while, the pirate logo and message would pop up. Bryn leaned back.
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"It seems that this VonCriptic hacker has gained access, started up a
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killer program, then signed off. And I can't find any way to shut it
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down!"
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Malcolm looked concerned. "But what about our records?"
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Bryn typed in a few data recalls, which responded with "Indicated
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record presently being deleted." Bryn shook his head. "This killer
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program seems to intercept every command I give it, and do the
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opposite of what is intended. Malcolm, call the head office and tell
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them to reboot the system before any other users try to access their
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data."
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"Right, chief." Malcolm dialed several times, but always got a
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busy signal. "I don't understand it. No one ever calls this line
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this time of day."
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Bryn slammed his fist on the desk. "It must be that damn
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VonCriptic, tying up the lines!" He thought for a moment. "This
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problem is beyond our abilities now. This is a job for... Blue
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Lightning."
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"Blue Lightning?" echoed Malcolm and various others in the
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offices, in awe.
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Bryn consulted a small black notebook and carefully dialed a
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21-digit number.
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Molly just reached the storefront of Fort Micro, when a short
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oriental man apporached her. "You seek the 80667, yes?" he asked in a
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kind voice.
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Molly sized him up and responded cautiously. "Yes, may I see it?"
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"Of course, this way please." He indicated the way with his
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outstretched arm.
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Molly had barely taken two steps when she felt something poking
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her in the ribs. "What the...?" She looked over and up into the face
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of Doctor Node.
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"Say nothing, just walk." instructed Node.
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Well! What a predicament! Will Molly be forced to reveal the
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location of the BEAST? Without it, Farwest may be helpless against
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VonCriptic's Evil Empire!
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Who is Blue Lightning, and how can he help to foil VonCriptic's
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misdoings?
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Find out in the next bit-thrashing episode of:
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***** The Adventures of Molly Modem *****
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845
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Rat Head Ratsnatcher 510-524-3649
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102
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Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives,
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arcane knowledge, political extremism, diversive sexuality,
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insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS.
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Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are,
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where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother.
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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