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Project 30, Chapter 14 |
| Written by Project 30 | |
| Wednesday, 06 August 2008 | |
Chapter 14 - Dirkin
Detective Davidson had spent three years following the activities of the so called "Admin". Exactly three years before the party his department heads had decided that the cult internet leader was worthy of investigation, that thousands of citizens were being ‘subverted' by an extreme social anarchist. The police "hacker" department uncovered some unbelievable information. Detective Davidson had used the internet countless times, and even after all he had seen and witnessed, he still could scarcely believe what he had been told.
As he drove towards the mansion, up the long winding driveway, he considered what he knew. Someone somewhere in the world had payed large sums of money to buy thousand of domain names from thousands of different providers, five years ago. At first these websites had seemed unrelated, sometimes being run from different countries. The "hacker" boffins had assured him, through countless hours of online monitoring, bugged phone conversations and satellite imagery, that they were all being run from the same location: Shakespeare Avenue.
"Goddam it all to hell..." he muttered to himself, "went and died just as I was about to get him...".
How many websites had Davidson himself logged onto, perused the forums or discussion boards? He personally checked the same websites once a day; Offdutypolice.com, Gunlovers.org and Copfiction.com. Each site he had ever logged onto in the last five years had potentially been run by the same shadowy figure: the Admin
Even now he could hardly believe it. So many websites, so many Admin's... how many of them were the same person? How much about himself had detective Davidson given away unwittingly to the very man he was investigating? Why would the Admin run so many different sites, so varying in nature and content? The "hacker" boffins believed that the Admin had a whole army of hackers of his own. Davidson remembered vividly the day two years ago, after months of following the activities of the Admin, when he had logged into Offdutypolice.com, a social site for the boys in blue, to update his personal blog. He had just entered his profile when he received an email:
To: Longarm62 (Detective Davidson's profile name) From: The Admin Subject: Project 30
You know detective, sometimes if you stare into the void, the void stares into you
What the hell? Project 30? That day two years ago had been the biggest clue as to the nature of the Admin, that he might be any Admin on any forum or website. The year he had spent investigating this "man" as he thought of him had revealed nothing of his purpose in running so many sites, only that he was doing so. Suddenly Davidson's profile on Offdutypolice.com was deleted. He found himself banned from Gunlovers.org with no explanation. Countless other sites would not allow him to even load the page, instead just a message:
Your IP address does not have permission to access this site. Project 30
His home computer became useless soon after. Viruses inundated his email, all messages saying
From: The Admin Subject: Project 30.
Sites that he was certain had no link to the Admin became inaccessible, or redirected him to false pages with bizarre images of knights with swords being stabbed through the neck by giant calligraphy pens, or simply saying Project 30 repeatedly over the screen. The police hackers took his computer to their version of a lab for analysis, only to tell him that he had hundreds of trojans, worms and key loggers riddled through his hard drive. Some of these viruses they had never even seen before.
After that it was war. He had to do all his computer work from the police computers, but he was determined to defeat this Admin. He figured he must have scared him for such an extreme reaction, with what had happened to his home computer. Now he did all his monitoring from the police super computers under the guidance of the boffins.
There was always one thing that worried him. Despite the latest in firewall technologies, despite the finest technical minds in cyber warfare at his disposal, the boffins told him upfront that from what they had seen, there was no way to one hundred percent sure that the Admin wasn't accessing the police computers. The years since had only revealed the suspected location of the Admin, the address that he had been personally planning to raid in a weeks time, that he now was parking his car in the driveway of.
"Dammit all..."
*****
"What's your name kid?"
"Dirkin"
"Dirkin? That's a strange name. You don't hear it very often"
"Really? I hear it every day."
Dirkin could tell by the look on the detectives face that his attempt at humour had failed. They were in a small side room while the rest of the guests waited in the dining room so he could interview them one at a time.
"Maybe you can tell me just what in all that's holy is going on around here?"
"Well... I post short stories on a website called Sto..."
"I'll stop you right there Kid. I've heard all about that. I know that you all were invited here from around the world for something called Project 30. Maybe you can tell me what the Project is?"
"Mate I honestly have no idea."
"Yeah I figured you didn't. What can you tell me about the dead man out there, this Admin?"
"Not much detective. He seemed like a good admin to me, taking peoples suggestions onboard, listening to the people, you know"
"No idea who he was then?"
"Nope, never seen him before in my life mate"
Detective Davidson was not surprised by any of this. His policemen had scoured the building, done searches for prints or matches, but nothing has revealed anything about the dead man out there. He didn't exist as far as society knew.
"Um... detective. He did give this strange present..."
"Really? Let's have a look then"
"Ok but I don't know what to make of it."
Dirkin handed the box, with partial pieces of wrapping paper still attached to detective Davidson. Detective Davidson looked inside the box.
There was a laptop computer. It was switched on. He took it out of the box and put it on the table. There was a webpage loaded up. The strange thing was, there was no address in the address bar. That shouldn't be possible should it?
"What is this?"
"I don't know detective"
The page had a simple layout, saying "Project 30" in the background, while one webcam application was available to use. Detective Davidson clicked the webcam.
A man appeared in front of the webcam, the same man whose body lay out in the dining room surrounded by white chalk. The Admin!
"Dirkin, it is with great pleasure that I invite you to join the alliance of writers. 30 writers from around the world all selected by me to join my cause. Writing is as close to the divine imagination as we could possibly hope to get! I have been planning this for some time now, friend Dirkin. I hope you believe me when I say that my intentions are good ones. There are forces out there that would seek to derail me, which is why this secure computer was chosen to deliver this message to you. Dirkin, I fear for my life. I believe that someone will attempt to kill me tonight. If this has not happened then you will most likely already know what to do. Should I be dead when you see this, remember one thing: Project 30 dies with me. It is regrettable, but nothing can be done about it. I wish you luck with your life and writing career, and bid you good day."
Detective Davidson stared at the screen for a few seconds
"That's it? God Dammit what the hell?"
"I know detective strange isn't it"
"Bah what a waste of time. I swear I‘ll tear this building down if I have to. Lieutenant! Bring me another witness!"
Detective Davidson stormed out of the room, muttering to himself
Dirkin decided that it was safe to sneak another look at the note in his pocket. The one that had been attached to the computer before he had switched it on, before the detective had arrived.
To: Dirkin From: The Admin Subject: Project 30
Greetings friend Dirkin. I ask you this: are you happy with society? Do you feel the hearts of men blackening around you? Is the world a sea of detached souls simply existing as those in power seal the future with hatred and decay? Do you wish to see things changed? I offer you, an imaginative writer, a visionary like myself, like the 29 other chosen ones out there, a chance to do something great. The internet is the new opiate of the masses. I will show you how it can be used to shape the world to our liking. I will give you power, power to influence, power to decide fate, power to ADMINISTRATE!
A detective will be arriving shortly, man named Davidson. It is crucial that he believes me to be the man who is hosting this dinner to be "The Admin". It is also crucial that he believes me to be dead. Watch the video on this laptop, then allow detective Davidson to see it. If you wish to join Project, simply go along with what happens, do not mention this note, do not mention that I am alive. If you do, be sure that I will know it, and you choice will to decline my offer. I trust that you will choose wisely. I will be in touch with you either way. Copyright 2008 Project 30 |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 08 August 2008 ) |
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