Chapter 15:// Taking apart

 

The PAN was restless.

 

parrotd> I want you to push through.

httpd> I can’t! It’s not letting me through the firewall.

parrotd> I want to see the accident! Lets fake a reporter’s email.

 

They did. They got a reply fairly quick, but it was the same video that was approved for release to the media, just a few seconds long, from the CCTV in the construction site. It showed the user, leaping forward, pushing the dog away from danger and the metasteel beam falling down, dragging him to the floor in an instant and cutting off his arm. The gory details were blurred and the video had a warning of graphic images.

 

armd> Thank god for that. Can you imagine a world without me?

eyed> Yes.

parrotd> OK. We can’t get to the raw video by network access. Let’s think like humans.

fingerd> Ooh! Me. Me!

armd> Will you just say it you retard?

fingerd> Let’s pee on something.

eyed> What good will that do?

fingerd> Well, humans pee all over the place.

eyed> That’s dogs. Dogs do that. You are confused. Again.

fingerd> What’s the difference?

armd> Different sort of meatbag.

walkmand> I know! They call tech support.

parrotd> ACK. That’s much better. We could email as a tech support guy and ask for it.

 

They went online and found a forum post with instructions from a real human, telling some other person how to send an original video file. They copied the instructions and asked again for the same video in its original version, citing an excuse like incompatible codecs and such.

The guy on the other end of the datastream was a bored corporate employee, who didn’t care about any such things as codecs and news articles. He forwarded the email to his boss asking for permission, then resumed whirling his hot tea with a spoon. He wasn’t actually British but he saw that on a TV show and thought that it made him look distinguished. The email looked legitimate enough, so the boss skimmed it over and sent back “OK.” The guy followed the instructions step by step, overriding any sort of firewall and common sense, unwittingly committing a felony by sending unauthorised footage to a third-party outside Hephaistos Heavy Industries. He sent the unedited file and as it uploaded he resumed sipping his tea.

It was lovely.