Chapter 5
My coworkers immediately started sneering at
- me.
“Oh, please! Who cares about your junk
firewall? It’s not like we ever get attacked
anyway. There aren’t any viruses that go for
this company.”
“You’re acting like that garbage is some kind
of treasure, when it’s not doing anything.”
I didn’t say anything, just looked at Veronica.
She’s the one in charge.
If I pull down the firewall, I need her okay.
Veronica looked conflicted, because she knew
く
a bit more about how important the firewall
was than the other employees.
She hadn’t expected me to be so determined,
and she’d probably just wanted me gone.
Even though she thought I was a slacker, she
must’ve respected my coding skills at least a
little.
She’d been paying me all these years, after
all.
She was worried that a competitor might
exploit the gap if I removed the firewall.
Veronica didn’t say anything, and the other
employees were quiet, whispering to each
other.
The atmosphere was tense, and no one
moved.
Then the conference room door opened
again, and a guy in a suit walked in. He
looked to be about my age.
He locked eyes with me and smirked.
“Kyle, if you want to pull your firewall, go
right ahead! I don’t need you anymore!”
Seeing this guy, Veronica visibly relaxed, and
she didn’t hesitate.
“Alright, Kyle, you can leave now. I don’t even.
want your code!”
I nodded, pulled out my laptop, and started
removing the firewall.
As the code scrolled across the screen, the
guy watched me and laughed.
“That’s an old architecture, right? You really
don’t have anything to brag about. I could
crack that with a few lines of code.”
Hearing that, I finally looked him in the eye,
and gave him a cool, mocking look.
“Oh, so you’re one of us. Guess I can spot
one when I see one.”
Before the guy could introduce himself,
Veronica stepped forward proudly.
“This is Cody! He’s a cybersecurity expert I
L
flew in from the Bay Area. He has his own
cybersecurity firm, and he’s a million times
better than you!”
I typed in the last line of code, took my hands.
off the keyboard, and pretended to listen.
“Oh, really? Mr. Cody, where did you study?
Did you go to MIT, Carnegie Mellon, or
Berkeley? Or did you have a fancy instructor
from overseas?”
Cody looked confused. He didn’t recognize
any of those schools or teachers, but it made
him even cockier.
“I’m self–taught! I was always interested in it.
What, you think you have to go to those
schools to be better than you?”
Hearing his answer, I just chuckled.
If he isn’t legit, I’m not even going to bother.
He’s not one of us.
Veronica realized I was being dismissive, and
Cody asked, “What’s that supposed to
mean?! Are you looking down on me?”
I rolled my eyes, shut down my computer, and
turned to leave.
I had just been testing him to see if he was in
our circle.
If you do this job long enough, you can sense
- it.
I knew all the big names from when my
professor introduced me to them, but this guy
wouldn’t even have met them.
