Breakdown of Reality

               Mike stared at the screen. Lines of code filled it, his text cursor blinking at the bottom. He stared at that blinking cursor and inhaled sharply, letting the breath out slowly. He looked around him; Luke in the next cubicle, working on the targeting system, Michelle down the aisle, working on the ballistic guidance system. He looked at the small picture frame next to his monitor, Bobby and Lorraine, both smiling at him. He sighed as he looked at his computer screen once again. 

               The security system, that was what he was working on, him and two other members of his team. They were the best in the business. Mike and the others had made millions in the business; they were considered gods in the crypto security business. He looked down at the photo once more, and then stared at his screen.

               Nuclear weapons systems, they were updating the software that would allow the government to bring about everybody’s worst nightmares, if the need arose. Mike had caught some flack in certain circles for being involved in the project, but he didn’t care that much, it was good money, and hey, someone had to do it. His team had gotten two thirds of the security code finished before the accidents started. 

               James was the first. Hunting accident. He’d always loved his orange vest, camo clothing, and hunting rifle. He was out hunting bear a month ago, when something had malfunctioned with his rifle when he found one. Didn’t explode or anything, just didn’t work, neither did his backups. The bear did the rest. Mauled to death, what an awful way to go. Mike didn’t think too much about it at the time, but now he wondered, James was always so meticulous about his weapon maintenance, something left over from his time in the Army, how did he go out with a weapon that didn’t work? 

               Then there was Robert, the hiker. This just happened last week; Robert had apparently tripped while hiking a local trail and fallen down a steep ravine, breaking his neck. Mike had felt bad, paid his respect to his widow, but thought even less about Robert’s death than James’, after all, bad things happen when you go out into the wilderness by yourself. He didn’t question the fact that Robert almost always went out with a group, or at least with his wife Jolene. 

               He stared at the screen, thoughts lost to the accident, his hand forward, stroking the picture of his wife and child. He knew what he had to do, it was easy, and he could code the rest in his sleep, to include the new changes. He just wasn’t sure he could do what he knew he had to do. He looked at his hand, finger stroking his wife’s cheek.

               He’d come home from work last night and everything had looked so normal. The house was dark and quite, Lorraine’s car was missing from the driveway, so Mike just figured that she must have gone out to get groceries. She did that from time to time, most wives did. He was a little concerned about the small stack of letters on the floor, but he just picked them up and started shuffling through them. He made his way to the kitchen and took his jacket off, draping it around a chair. He tossed the mail on the countertop, grabbed a glass from the cabinet, opened up the fridge, and poured himself a cup of milk. 

               He nursed it as he walked into the living room, intending to watch some news. The door to the DVD drive was open. A disc sat in it. In handwriting that Mike didn’t recognize was written Watch Me. Mike frowned, what was this?

               Mike turned the TV on and hit close on the DVD player’s remote control. The disc loaded and Mike watched as someone tampered with James’ guns, bending the firing pins ever so slightly so that they wouldn’t fire. Then a scene shot from a tree of James being mauled by a bear. Then a scene of someone placing a tripwire along a mountain path. Then a scene of Robert tripping on the wire, and falling down the ravine. His emotions were already running high when the next scene started. 

               Lorraine and Bobby were sitting in chairs, backs facing each other, bound to the chairs. There were blindfolds over their eyes and gags in their mouths. They were both obviously terrified. A man walked in front of the camera, face out of frame. He brought up a sign, it read: If you want to see your wife and child alive again, code us a back door.

               Mike stood there, his mouth open, his mind racing. He had no doubt they’d kill his family if he didn’t do what they asked, they’d already proved they were willing to take life. He also had no doubt they kill them if he went to the authorities. 

               This is why he was sitting in front of computer, staring at the screen. If he gave access to nuclear targeting systems to these people, there was no telling what they might do. But they had his wife and child. Could he live the rest of his life knowing that he could have saved their lives?

               No, no he couldn’t. Mike brought his hand back from the picture frame and started typing. He knowingly created a vulnerability in the software that would allow access if you knew where to look for it. For the first time he failed to create a perfect security system. For Lorraine. For Bobby. Everyone else could die in a fiery blaze for all he cared. They were the only ones that mattered.

(Source: nykyos)