Free The Media Candidate by Paul Dueweke Page A

her ramblings through COPE’s brain,
Jenner had referred back to her electronic notebook for a password
into a classified account. This one was unusual, however, since it
was a word that had personal meaning to her even though someone
else was using it. But she found the password in her classified
notebook had been changed. The original was GRUMBUG, which just
happened to be the name that her grandmother had called her when
she was little—an odd, but memorable, coincidence. When she
returned to her notebook, it had been changed to GRUMBLE. But only
the system manager could gain access to her protected account.
Apparently, the system manager had been monitoring her exploratory
activity and chose to make this change in Jenner’s personal
notebook.
    What Jenner was too naive to appreciate was that
the system manager had access to her personal-history file in which
the Grumbug nickname had appeared, realized that this change would
probably be noticed by Jenner, and had issued it as a subtle
warning. It was the computational equivalent to a shot across the
bow. But Jenner either didn’t get the message or chose not to heed
it.
    She pieced together what information she had to
try to determine the identity of the system manager. This took a
month of late night hacking, and she was shocked at the inescapable
conclusion. The system manager, who was responsible for maintaining
the computer system, correcting errors, modifying programs,
managing passwords, and directly influencing the control of every
aspect of COPE operations, was not a person. The system manager was
another computer, or at least a partitioned section of the main
COPE supercomputer. And this wasn’t just an ordinary system
manager. Its software was so broad and complex that it made daily
recommendations to every level of upper management. It was so
trusted that those recommendations were generally followed without
question.
    But this computer had gone well beyond the role
of a system manager. It had compromised its own security by
invading a personal locked file and modifying it. This was exactly
contrary to the most basic function of a system manager—to insure
error free files to the users. It seems almost malicious ,
she thought.
     
     

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Winning Side
     
    The Asp called Sherwood into his office. “You
and Jenner have pulled it off. I’ll admit I had some doubts about
anybody being able to handle that job on such a short fuse. But
Dagger was done under budget and met every spec, and all in fifteen
months.” He considered his pipe rack and chose just the right pipe
for this conversation. He offered his tobacco pouch to Sherwood who
removed his own pipe from his pocket.
    “You both have fine futures at COPE, and I can
recommend you highly for whatever positions you might want.
Whatever you do, I’m sure COPE will benefit. I’d be very happy, of
course, if you’d choose to stay on here in Dorsal Fin, however COPE
encourages its brightest people to get exposure to diverse areas.
There are other projects within Dorsal Fin …” He drew in a river of
smoke and mixed it with the rest of his sentence. “… or even Shark
Bait, where you would be most welcome. I talked with Jenner a few
minutes ago, and she’s decided to stay with me for another year or
so.”
    Sherwood held his pipe in his hand, not wishing
to compete with the Asp. If I could only work with a spider on a
mission , he thought. “Project Dagger,” he trolled, looking
squarely at the Asp, “has given me insight into COPE that few have
experienced.”
    “The every-day missions for a spider,” the Asp
parried, “might elude someone with a zealous imagination such as
yourself. I hope you’re not jumping to conclusions about its
utility.”
    Sherwood’s gaze met the ASP’s on a silent
battlefield. “Yes. I understand,” he finally replied. Another
period of silence matured as both men analyzed each others eyes and
telltale lines in their faces for signs of weakness, for