(Here's the first chapter of my major novel, "IOStream")
The Syndicate. a group of ten or so elite hackers whom secretly carry out projects in order to slowly take down the totalitarian government that has suppressed them for so long. Now, they're not planning an all-out coup d'etat, that would be suicide. They're not that stupid--then again, maybe they are. They don't know that their youngest and most accomplished member, Diana "Frost" Blackfire, is really a girl. Most people seem to believe that girls can't be hackers, or at least the professional ones, like Diana. She's kept her gender hidden for two years, but is still surprised that the others haven't figured it out yet. Of course, there are benefits to being a female hacker--nobody suspects you of being one. If you hack into a large corporation like she did a year ago, and you're called upon as a potential suspect, they'll most likely forget about it, since you're a girl. So it can help avoid potential arrest, in most cases. This situation, however, has nothing to do with gender. Really, it was just a simple accident, and being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or rather, breaking into the right house at the wrong time.
"I'm telling you, I live there. I forgot my keys this morning before I left for school, and my room-mate locked the door when she left." She sat at the police station, legs crossed and arms folded on her lap. She was able to keep her voice calm, even though it was a very exasperating situation. She just wanted to go home.
The policeman was calm and composed as well. "We had witness accounts of you breaking into that house through the window. People normally don't to that to get into their own house." Since when was she normal? Okay, so it was really her friend's house, but she was just living there until she hears back from the various colleges she applied to, which could take a while in the case of Peking University.
"Okay, it's really my friend Crystal's house. I'm staying with her until I hear back from Beijing about my college placement exam." She was starting to get annoyed. She had to get home and finish work on a new release of a program to send to the Syndicate.
Naturally, the police didn't listen to her. "That's still breaking and entering, kid. If you don't have proof of address, or we can't contact this 'Crystal' person, you're going to have to stay here. Crystal was on vacation in Florida until the weekend. It was only Tuesday. She always thought that things happened for a reason, but this was just stupid. Quickly, she was losing her temper, but did her best to remain calm and composed. "Can I at least make a quick phone call? I need to make sure my boss knows that I won't be in today. I work at a computer repair shop downtown." He said yes. Instead of calling her boss, who had seen the arrest anyways, she called Jack, a member of the Syndicate, and her former mentor. She dropped her voice an octave, making her already low pitch even more boyish. "Hey, can you do me a favor? Do an IP lookup of the computers at the Manchester police station, and then run that program that Aaron made. I got arrested for breaking into my own house. Well, my friend's house, but we both live there. I'm still waiting for a reply from Beijing."
Jack, always willing to help her out, had a rather bouncy voice for some reason. She figured she's just ask him about it later, since right now she was in a rather odd situation. "Got it! I'm looking up the IP address now. Expect this to be finished within about five minutes."
"Five minutes? You must have a hell of a botnet set up to do it that fast. Thanks again, I'll try to get you the program as soon as possible." The program was designed to DDoS an entire network, bringing it down in most cases. Then it would search the server's files for a specific file (determined by user input) and delete it, all before bringing the network back up. It would only take a few minutes- it was just that fast. Aaron was always good at making his programs work very quickly and smoothly, not even being noticed in some cases. Of course, the police weren't exactly the smartest in the state, so they just chalked it up to old systems. Really, that was a big help for Jack. It made it easier to get in, since the security on older operating systems is generally less comprehensive, and their firewalls weren't the best either.
Within those five minutes, Jack was able to take complete control of the system, remove Diana's file, and reset everything else. It was a complex and long program, consisting of tens of thousands of lines, but it was created to work quickly and without leaving any traces, aside from a missing file, of course. The officer searched the network for her record, but it was nowhere to be found. Had they arrested the wrong person? It's never exactly happened before. He was sure that it was her he saw breaking into that house. So why didn't her record show up when he entered her name? "Miss Blackfire? Your name isn't showing up in our records. Are you sure that 'Diana Blackfire' is your real name?"
Okay, so it wasn't her real name, but she knew he would never be able to pronounce her real name. Hell, it took her a while to be able to say it herself!
"Actually, my real name is Seong Jae-Hwa," she quickly wrote it down on a piece of paper "but I dare you to pronounce that correctly." So he tried; many times actually, and failed each time. It was always the same sound every time he tried, too,-- the "eo"-- where the "e" isn't as noticeable as the "o." He was able to get the rest correct, though.
"It look like we arrested the wrong person, because you're not showing anywhere in our records." Obviously this had never happened to him before, so he was clueless as what to do. Should he let her go, or keep her for some questioning? His shift was ending soon anyways, but he wasn't sure if he should keep her there for the night. She looked like she had something important to do. "Y'know what? I'm not sure if I should be doing this, but" he unlocked her cell, and opened the door slowly "I'm going to let you go anyways. My shift's over, and we can't find your records anywhere on our computers. Plus, my wife can be evil sometimes." Hearing that was a relief for her, since was getting hungry, and everyone knows that prison food is terrible unless you're a big celebrity. Then the food is average, but she's no celebrity. "Sorry for the mix-up, Miss."
"It's okay, don't worry about it. It's actually happened to a friend of mine before." It was true-- Aaron had been arrested for breaking into his dad's shop after hours. His father was able to get him out of it, thankfully. "Have a good night, sir." She picked up her jacket, threw it on, and left, trying to find a taxi so she could get home. She did, after all, live about thirty miles away, and that would be a three-hour trip if she ran the whole way. No taxi came. "Ugh, looks like I'll have to walk home."
"Diana! Is that you?" Oh no. It was Lily Rose Chen. They had met while working at a restaurant in Taipei, and instantly became friends. Despite that, Diana had thought on occasion, that maybe they were more than just friends, they just didn't realize it yet. Maybe that was just proof that Diana fell in love with her, but was too afraid of her reaction to say a word about it. Right? "You look like you're lost or something. Wait, why are you in these parts?" Well, might as well be honest about it.
"I got arrested for breaking into Crystal's house, even though we both live there. She's gone for the rest of the week, so she wasn't able to bail me out." Diana shrugged her shoulders "But a friend of mine was able to bust me out, which was nice. Unfortunately, I have to walk back to my house now. and that would take three hours even if I bolted the whole way and didn't catch any traffic, which as the time, is pretty unlikely." She was right, it was rush hour on a busy Manchester highway. There was no way she wouldn't run into traffic, and quite possibly risk her life in the process of getting home.
"Well, do you need a ride? I was headed that way anyways. I just got out of work, had to go over-time because of some technical problems we were having." True, her and Lily did live within a mile of each other. She could easily give Diana a ride, and still be home about five or six minutes after that, even less if traffic permitted. It was also true that Diana just wanted to get home. It had been a long day, and she was tired as anything. She decided to take the ride anyways. So she entered the car, looking at Lily in n almost suspicious manner. She was well known to be a crazy driver when she felt like it.
After a few miles, the traffic started to escalate. "Damn rush hour traffic!" Lily sped up gradually, trying to pass as many vehicles as safely possible. What they didn't expect, however, was a large truck coming from behind them, trying to change lanes and make the exit. In doing so, the truck hit Lily's bumper with enough force to send her sideways at almost a right angle. Other cars on the highway, going too fast to be able to stop in time, began to hit the small car, each with greater force than the last. Diana took most of the force, by throwing herself over Lily and acting as a shock absorber. Always thinking of others before yourself, Diana.
The force of each blow hurt like mad. Each was harder than the last, and that added up quickly. She could even feel her bones slowly start to break under the pressure. Then a large car rolled over them. "Lily! Move the the back of the car if you can! Most of the pressure is going to be on the front, and the engine will most likely start to spew out flames! If you stay in the front, you might end up getting burned pretty bad once the engine goes!"
Lily quickly moved to the back of the car, which was surprisingly comfortable despite being crushed. Still, she worried about Diana, who focused on getting the door open enough for them to be able to get out before the engine combusted. What if the pressure on her at that moment actually killed her? Would she die right there, or would there be at least some shred of hope? She knew that Diana, purely out of instinct, always looked after others, often forgetting about her own life and emotional well-being. Was she really willing to put her life on the line to save someone else? Lily had asked her this before, and always got the same answer. "If I need to, I will die for someone, even if they're an enemy or complete stranger." Dying for someone she hated, or someone she didn't even know? "I know what you're thinking. I've made peace with the aspect of death. I hope I can die while saving someone else." I think that's why I've fallen in love with her. She's always giving, and she's never had anything for herself. Maybe someday, I can give to her for a change.
The engine burst into flames quickly, with Lily safe (for now) in the back, and Diana still struggling to break open the door, flames licking at her pale flesh. She hid her agony behind a hopeful smile, but her eyes said everything that her face refused to show. "I think I've almost got it, Lily. Don't worry." Her voice was even softer than usual, and less demanding or intimidating, peaceful even. She knew she was probably going to die, but all she really cared about was making sure that Lily lived. That was really her top priority. She believed that she lived solely for the purpose of saving others, be it by actions carried out by the Syndicate, or something like this. The flames quickly began to taint her flawless skin, leaving nothing but strange colors in their wake. The pain started to show in her face as her smile faded into a scowl of pain. Her breathing picked up speed as she beat at the door repeatedly in an attempt to force it open. Nothing seemed to get it to open. Diana's vision was slowly deteriorating, and she was sure this would be the last thing she saw- chaos. She kept whispering to herself softly. Please, let her live. I don't care if I die right here and now. Just make sure she . . .
And then everything went black.
