Story [Issue 19] The Tech Adjudicator: Chapter 1

[SakuraVisions 120]

 

 

“Hey Dennis, got any money for me today?” The buff, ragged figure asked.

 

“N-no sir..” the scrawnier voice of the two replied. “B-but I w-will tomorrow.. I promise!”

 

The stronger teen cracked his knuckles and retorted “What a shame. I guess a black eye and some bruises would motivate you and remind you to bring some tomorrow, wouldn’t it?”

 

“N-No sir.., n-no...” But the plead was not heard as a giant fist slammed into Dennis’ skull.

 

Beaten and dazed, Dennis awoke from his trance a few hours later. The pain was unreal, but he clenched his fists and pulled through. Nothing he wasn’t used to, anyway. As he brought himself off the ground, he scanned the area for his belongings: His ravaged lunch bag, old school supplies, a newly emptied wallet, and flash drive. Wait- Dennis didn’t remember bringing his flash drive to school today since he didn’t want it stolen. Could it be his? Picking it up off the ground, Dennis held the drive up to the glimmering sunlight in search of a name on it, but to no avail. That’s odd. He thought. Perhaps a name would be on any files on the flash drive? Dennis decided to take it home for the afternoon to see just who it belonged to.

 

On his way home Dennis pondered why he was such a target. He had never done anything to hurt anyone purposefully, yet he was still picked on by almost everyone else. Though all he wanted was for everyone to be at peace with each other, the rest of the world had seemingly decided that Dennis was to be at war with the rest of his community. He was robbed, beaten, and bruised every day for as long as he could even remember, and there was nothing he could do about it. His fate was out of control, with no real friends to comfort him or to bring him up from this giant valley in his life. It was as if there was nothing left to live for...

 

Dennis walked through the door of his house and sat down at his family computer. He didn’t own one of his own because it would probably be stolen, and his foster parents didn’t trust him. He was left on the streets at birth and adopted by his foster parents at the age of two. Though he was sixteen now, his parents still thought of him as an incompetent child, no more than an unwelcome pest to look after. Dennis didn’t have any siblings, at least, to his knowledge. He was completely alone with nobody to actually care about him. As he plugged the flash drive into the computer, he wondered who would care if he was just to disappear. Going through the list of people he knew, Dennis came to a conclusion: nobody. 

 

Perhaps he should just end his own life? No impact would be felt by anyone else. If anything, the world would be a better place. Well, slightly. The world would also be a better place without criminals, but most of them aren’t killed. Dennis’ consciousness argued back. As true as it may have been, it didn’t help his mood at all. Dennis clicked on the drive as it was read by the computer and the two files contained within were revealed: a text file titled “readme” and a html document called “passwords”. Upon opening the html file, Dennis discovered that it contained nothing, not even passwords. Just a blank file. However, as he moused over to the "readme", he realized the other document had much, much more potential. The text contained was the following:

 

“This ancient relic of access has fallen into your possession. Use it however you would like.” Directly below it were the instructions. “The password of any account is at your command. Simply key in the website server host that the account is linked to, followed directly by the username of the corresponding password you wish to receive. Notes: The owner of this drive is immune to any password retrieval by this code. In order to claim the drive, open the password file and key your username at the very top. This first line of the document will become locked.” Simple enough. Dennis mused. But there’s no way it can be real- can it? As wrong as it seemed, since there was no name or owner written on the drive or its contents, Dennis kept it to himself. Who did he have close to him to tell about the drive anyway? He had no friends. It was best kept to himself anyway. 

 

For good measure, Dennis opened the html file and wrote his username on the top line, “DennisHartly48” and closed the file. He would try this out later, although it was probably just a lame joke someone left. There was no logical way some prank like this could really work... was there?

 

Dennis looked up at the clock and groaned. He was back in school and it was still early in the morning, but only a few hours until lunch period when he was positive he would be beaten up into a thin layer of broken bones. Dennis remembered that he was supposed to bring money, but intentionally left all of his cash at home today in order to try something new. Either he was successful and it worked, or he would be brutally slaughtered. A risk worth taking, he decided.

 

The bell rang and Dennis continued on to his class previous to lunch. Sitting down at his desk, he logged onto the computer in front of him and inserted the flash drive. Still doubting the credibility of the program, he opened the html file and typed in what he remembered to be the student number of his merciless bully, followed by the server name student information was stored on, the Green Hope High School database. Dennis saved the file with the new text encoded and waited a minute. Then another minute. I knew it, this is just a fraud. Suddenly, a dialog box appeared with the three digit password for the bully to have access to his lunch money: “482”. Dennis’ jaw almost dropped straight to the floor. Could this really work?

 

“Mr. Hartly!” The voice at the front of the class boomed. “Are you paying attention at all?”

 

“Yes, sir.” Dennis replied to his teacher. “I don’t quite understand what you just covered, though. Would you mind explaining it?” He developed a quick lie to make himself look indulged in the boring class itself. However, that wasn’t what mattered. What really counted is whether or not this password worked. The bell rang abruptly and Dennis dashed to the cafeteria as fast as he possibly could without looking suspicious to any bystanders. It was crucial that he get his food before anyone looking to eliminate him happened to show up.

 

Dennis arrived two minutes later and was second in the lunch line. At his turn, the lady running the cash register asked for his account details. Though he was about to collapse from his nerves overwhelming him, Dennis mustered out the username and password, “four-eight-two”, for the woman. The lady smiled. “Thanks, honey.” She looked down at Dennis’ tray and saw the equivalent of a hundred dollars in cookies and snacks that he picked out. Laughing, she charged the bully’s account and sent the boy on his way. 

 

The dark, hooded, buff figure approached Dennis no more than five minutes later asking for money. Instead of paying up, Dennis chuckled, threw five bags of potato chips at his face, and said “Eat up. You worked for it, after all.” Confused but satisfied, the content bully slithered away. Did that really just work? Dennis thought to himself. He just stole from a lunch account- no- he just proved the password access file was real. If he could do this with lunch accounts, surely he could change the whole world!

 

Thanks for reading!
ShadowVisions

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[I3loodShot 3,119]

Omg this is awesome :D

I want the ancient relic of access :D

[r_GoldRock30 68]

A really great read - it involves the reader very effectively with an excellent opening, and I love the way you've used the protagonists thoughts in order to provide a pretty original setting for the story. I'm intrigued to find out what happens next. I was anticipating an article of yours this issue, and you definitely didn't disappoint. Awesome stuff.

[AngeIs.And.Demons 1,988]

You'e back? :O

[Bowzie 64]

Haha wow, the one story that I actually read in the newspaper, it's great! If they are all like this I'll start reading more. Great job!

[r_BlackBandit0 76]

It isn't contacted to tanki

[r_nobodygood0 2]

hey its shadow visions thats where you when to- righting awsome storys

[icerugby 1,886]

A very interesting article :) Looking forward to more of your great stories