[[I'm new to MxO but familiar with MMOs... this is the first chapter of the early origins for my character on Syntax. I look forward to a really cool gaming experience here. Enjoy!]]
Chapter 1: Client Privilege
November, 2008
“I don’t know what to make of this. I really don’t. Was this video tampered with?”
Diane Carter was shocked by the images she saw on the video recording, although the stoic expression on her face remained detached. Just the other evening, a small group of heavily armed criminals broke into the Heidel Building, causing untold damage and killing several security guards. Frank Heidel, the owner of the building and a client of Diane’s, sat across from her desk, nervously thumbing the remote to rewind and play the images on the DVD recording.
“It wasn’t,” Frank said, “this is the first copy of the video that was made. I have a dual recording system in place like you suggested.”
“Where is the original?” Diane remained calm during her questioning, but deep down she was amazed, baffled, and confused with the images she was seeing. It is one thing to see people walking around with firearms. In all her years as an attorney Diane dealt with plenty of men who were physically dangerous or politically and ethically ruthless in their own right, but none of them seemed to come close to the individuals captured on the video feed from the Heidel Building. Diane just couldn’t make sense of watching these criminals running along walls, dodging bullets as if they were nothing, making impossible shots at security personnel and cutting through them as if they were children rather than the highly paid, Special Forces trained, ex-military men that Frank Heidel hired. As this team of criminals, no – terrorists proceeded through the Heidel Building, it was evident from the video feed that they knew exactly where they were going and precisely what they were looking for. The lone woman in the group accessed a mainframe and either uploaded or downloaded something from it as her teammates made a lethal mockery of Heidel’s security team.
“The original is gone. The FBI showed up and confiscated all footage of the break in. We didn’t tell them about the dual recordings.”
“What was the special agent in charge’s name?”
“I… I don’t know. Shepherd, I think. There were quite a few of them I was told, but Wilson didn’t get any identification from them. In fact, they refused to hand anything over. They just took the video footage and left.” Diane knew of Wilson and met him on several occasions. Louis Wilson, a former police detective who parlayed his career success into becoming a corporate security director for the Heidel Corporation. Wilson was a family man, good natured but highly disciplined in his work. It didn’t seem normal for a man of his caliber to not have accurate information about an event that resulted in the deaths of a dozen men under his command, especially when questioned by men who were probably working with one of the government’s many agencies.
“What did these criminals steal from your mainframe?” Diane wasn’t certain if Frank would tell her, but considering that he had a legal mess on his hands that he needed her to get him out of there was no reason not to tell him.
“I’m not sure if they stole anything yet. They may have planted a virus into our network, or maybe they stole corporate secrets. Wilson assured me that our project files were untouched, and our network administrators are working around the clock trying to find out what happened.”
Frank was very nervous, and it annoyed Diane to see him behaving this way. Ordinarily, as the CEO of a multinational software development firm Frank was always the man in charge, someone who was on the forefront of technology and innovative in the manner in which technology could be used to make the world a better place. Frank was, like few others in the world, a man who would be remembered for his contributions. He was a multi-billionaire, a philanthropist, and an advisor to the United Nations on how to best implement computer and networking technologies. Frank was the pinnacle of the American dream, growing up in obscurity, putting himself through college, and founding his software company in an age where computers and networks weren’t even considered a part of everyday life. Frank was also one of Diane’s first clients, and although the two were close personal friends it was she who had everything to do with his success. Now Frank was facing a large liability battle, as the widows and children of these murdered security personnel would certainly be seeking some form of damages from the Heidel Corporation that the insurance policies may not cover.
“At this point then I’ll review your company’s liability coverage and hopefully these security personnel were smart enough to have participated in your company’s group benefits plans. I’m also going to need to know the name of the special agent who Wilson spoke with, the one who is apparently handling any investigation of this crime. Can you arrange for Wilson to meet with me tomorrow morning at 9:00AM at my office? I need to know from him in detail exactly what security measures and protocols he had in place.”
“Yes, yes, I can. I’ll call him tonight and let him know. I just don’t know what to make of this recording. It’s unreal. How the hell are these people doing this? It’s like watching special effects in a science-fiction movie!”
“It is. I’ve never seen anything like it other than in a movie myself, and I’m no fan of science-fiction, Frank. It’s a childish genre, to say the least. Leave a copy of this video with me though.”
Frank didn’t object. “This is your copy. I made another for my own records as well. I don’t plan on making any more, but for something like this I don’t think its right for only one copy to exist, especially in the hands of the government. They just want to control everything and everyone, don’t they?”
“Yes, they do. Just make sure you don’t do anything to give them a reason to focus on you more than they need to.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
