Free The Game Changer by Louise Phillips Page B

or anything else that requires digits. It’s too difficult to keep a range of different ones in our heads, and writing them down can be risky.’
    ‘So, you’re assuming I use the same code for everything.’
    ‘Most people do.’
    ‘Well, even if I did, it would be my code.’
    ‘Yes, but then there’s the use of association too. You know the kind of thing, names of people, places or the year we were born. These are all important in how we remember things.’
    ‘Go on.’
    ‘Is that really necessary, Kate? I’m sorry now I brought it up.’
    ‘Humour me. I’m interested.’
    ‘Fine.’ He leaned back in the couch. ‘If you insist.’
    ‘I do.’
    ‘What people don’t realise is that our fingers, as well as our brains, remember these codes. It’s called muscle memory, and it’s not surprising, considering how many times we use the same combination over and over again. I can work out codes simply by watching how a person uses their keyboard, and you’d be surprised how many people choose their own name or the words
pass
or
login
.’
    ‘That’s very observant of you, Malcolm.’
    ‘Being observant is useful in my profession, as it is in yours.’ Kate made a mental note to change the code as soon as Adam got home. ‘Sorry, Malcolm, I don’t mean to sound critical. It’s been a tough day.’
    ‘I understand.’
    ‘Malcolm, I was thinking about what you said earlier on.’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘How creating physical references can conjure up all sorts of possibilities that may not exist.’
    ‘Indeed.’
    ‘You know a lot about my dad?’
    ‘Your father, Kate, was a bit of an enigma.’
    There it was again, that critical tone. ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘He was fond of puzzles. It was one of his survival tactics, not letting others know what he was really thinking.’
    ‘Survival – that’s a rather strong word.’
    ‘Perhaps, but it sums up how he used to be, always wanting to keep others guessing. I doubt even your mother knew him fully.’
    Kate wasn’t sure why, but Malcolm’s last sentence made sense to her. How much did she know about her father?
    She was still lost in thought when he asked, ‘Are you happy?’
    ‘Yes, I think so.’
    ‘Then let sleeping dogs lie.’
    ‘You’re not usually a man for clichés.’
    ‘Sometimes they’re appropriate.’
    ‘I guess.’
    He stood up, walked over to sit beside her on the couch and took her hand. ‘Kate, you do know you’re very important to me?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘If anything is troubling you, I want you to know that you can trust me.’
    ‘Thanks, Malcolm. That means a lot.’
    ‘You’re very like him, you know.’
    ‘My father, you mean?’
    ‘Yes. He was often far too stubborn for his own good.’
    ‘Do you think I’m stubborn?’
    ‘At times, yes, I do. It’s the fighter in you.’
    ‘That’s partly an act, you know.’
    ‘I doubt it, Kate.’
    ‘I don’t know. There’s been times lately when I’ve felt strong and others, when I’ve not been so sure.’
    ‘You’re only human. I’ve always watched out for you. You do know that?’
    ‘I do, but it’s all the bits I don’t know that trouble me most.’

The Game Changer
     
    CENTRE OF LIGHTNESS
    20 Steps to Self-enlightenment Programme
    Confidential Record: 121A
    Everyone has occasions in their life when they have to trust others, even if previously people have let them down.
    Relationships can turn out very differently from how a person first expects them to be. People may even ask themselves why it took so long to unmask the true self of another, or why they stayed in an obviously bad relationship for a protracted period of time.
    The answer is simple. People can be manipulated, controlled and convinced to believe almost anything, and when they do, the subject’s mind will shut out the truth. Once a person is persuaded of a particular belief, it is far harder to change this view than to reaffirm or compound it. The 20 Steps Programme could easily have been 19