An innocent man, one assassin and a vile CEO who will hack his way to the top of a lucrative software industry. Rupert Blake, a computer programmer working at a software development company called Leadsway, receives an unexpected promotion, and is given the task of securing the company's computer system from hackers. His woes begin when the hackers attack Leadsway in an unexpected way.
CHAPTER THREE
Back at Leadsway, Rupert finished replying his emails and decided to talk to James. He slid on his chair to his right, getting closer to the transparent glass panel separating his cubicle from James'. He stretched an arm and pressed the intercom button.
"James."
"Yes," James said.
"My office will be ready tomorrow so this is my last day here with you guys, you know," Rupert said, sounding saddened.
"Oh, okay. We'll miss you though"
"I'll miss you guys too," Rupert said.
"You'll come round to see us tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, I probably will. I have to review the whole security system so I'll come by to analyze a few things."
"Wow. The whole system? Talk about hitting the ground running."
"It is a big project, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Actually, it's Mr. Roberts himself who assigned the project to me. I guess the recent security breaches have caused the guys at the top to take extra precautions."
"It makes sense, because it'll cost the company a lot more if the system gets hacked into. Imagine what damage the hackers will do if they gain access to our clients' data."
"I can't bear the thought," Rupert said.
...
It was close to lunch time so the two decided to go to the cafeteria. In the cafeteria Rupert was the center of attention. Almost everyone was congratulating him and talking about his new job. Rupert took notice of the fact that this was the first lunch he had ever had where so many people talked about him at once.
They had lunch and returned to their cubicles. Rupert spent the rest of his day clearing his space and packing things of sentimental value in a box. He packed his Programmer of the Year trophy, a photograph of him and the rest of the programming team and various certificates of awards he had won.
He occasionally thought of how it would be like to work in his own office, with no one around him. His thoughts then drifted back to when he first joined Leadsway, his first project assignment and how he helped the team to make the software that many companies now relied on for their accounting.
He vividly remembered the times when he would spend nights at work, much to the dissatisfaction of Sylvia, together with James and other programmers in their group, eating takeouts and drinking plenty of coffee and sodas.
Wow. Time does go by very quickly. Now I'm going to be like a boss to these guys. Well, not directly, since I'll be in charge of the security system, but they'll still see me as one of the guys at the top.
He looked around him, observing the people in their cubicles as they worked. Everyone in his view seemed to be busy in their cubicles, typing away on their keyboards and making calls to other departments, requesting for files and things like that.
Rupert felt out of place and needed to do something to pass the time. He decided to play a game on his computer. It was one of the few games allowed to be installed on their workstations for refreshment purposes. When and for how long they played the games was recorded and logged in the system, so everyone played with temperance. The game that Rupert chose to play was a racing game. He quickly went through the options of selecting his car and the type of race he wanted and was soon racing.
He chose to play the game in tournament mode, which meant that he would participate in a number of races on various race tracks and, as he had planned, he would spend hours playing.
It was after a long while that he checked the time and, to his relief, he discovered that there were only fifteen minutes left before work ended, so he ended the game and shut down the computer.
...
"Hi Rupert. How is it going?"
"Hi James. Actually, I was bored so I played games for more than three hours. How was your work?"
"It was fine, you know. The same as it always is. I see you've finished packing your stuff."
"Yeah, I'm just getting ready for the move. So, are you going home now?"
"Yes," James said.
"Let's go then. I've got to see Sylvia," Rupert said, standing up from his chair.
"Sure man. You can't wait to tell her, can you?"
"I can't wait. I know she's going to be thrilled."
They walked out of the workstation room, stopped by the reception and said goodbye to Cindy. Then they took the elevator down to the underground parking.
"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow," James said.
"See you tomorrow, pal."
Both of them went to their cars. Rupert started his car and drove out the parking space and on to the street.
The roads were already busy as it was peak hour. Rupert switched on his radio to listen to some music and make his journey back home lighter.
...
At Rupert's home, Sylvia was preparing dinner. She had a chicken in the oven and was preparing some soup on the stove. Their daughter, Jane, was playing games on her computer when she saw the lights from a car shining through her bedroom windows. She quickly paused the game, swung her chair around and ran out of her room.
She came down the stairs shouting.
"Mommy, Mommy! Daddy is here. Daddy is here!"
She entered the kitchen just as Rupert was opening the door to get in.
"Daddy!"
She ran to him, in excitement, as soon as she saw him come in.
"Come here, Jane, baby," Rupert said with arms stretched out.
He hugged her, picked her up and kissed her forehead.
"Did you have fun at school today?"
"Yes. I drew an elephant and it was big," she said and laid her head on his chest.
"That's good, Jane."
Rupert walked to Sylvia, holding Jane in one arm, and kissed her.
"Hi, honey. And did you have fun at work today?"
"I've got great news for us," he said.
Sylvia looked directly into Rupert's eyes.
"I can see there's something you are dying to tell me. What is it?"
"Do you still remember the vacancy that came up last week I told you about?"
"Head of Internal Security, wasn't it?"
"Yes. I've got the job. I move into my new office tomorrow," he said.
"Wow. Congratulations baby. I'm so proud of you."
She kissed him.
She is genuinely surprised. So no one told her after all.
Rupert smiled at her.
"Did you hear that Jane? Daddy's got a new job," she said to Jane in a childish tone.
"Yeah!"
Jane clapped her hands.
"Why don't you go sit down and I'll bring some wine for us to drink," Sylvia said.
"And I've made your favorite meal tonight too. What a coincidence, isn't it?"
"Great, honey. Thank you," he said.
Rupert and Jane went into the lounge and sat on one of the couches. Jane took the remote controller and switched on the TV. It went to a news channel and Rupert took the remote from her and increased the volume as a headline on the screen captured his attention.
BuyNow's recent security breach is estimated to have cost the company over two hundred million dollars, to date. Its share price has shed off twenty-five percent since the Chief of Computer Security officially announced the incident.
Sylvia came into the lounge holding a bottle of red wine and two glasses, and a full glass of orange juice for Jane. She placed them on a table and poured the wine. Then she handed Jane the glass of orange juice and sat next to Rupert.
"There you go sweetheart," she said, handing the other glass of wine to Rupert.
Sylvia looked at him and noticed a worried look on his face.
"Is something wrong Rupert?"
"Thanks," he said, receiving the glass.
He took a sip.
"There is nothing wrong. It's just that these security breaches get me thinking, you know."
"I know you are worrying about the same thing happening to Leadsway. All you can do is to try your best at securing the system. You can't control the people that are doing this."
She put a hand on his cheek.
"Honey, this is your night to celebrate this achievement. Don't let worries stop you from enjoying it, okay?"
"Okay. You're right you know. Cindy told me the same thing at work today."
"And she's right. Don't worry, okay?"
"Okay," Rupert said.
Rupert changed the channel to one that was showing a comedy. They watched the comedy, drank wine and laughed together. Sylvia went to serve the dinner during a commercial break and brought it to the couch and they ate their dinner peacefully.
Jane went to bed two hours after finishing her dinner, as Sylvia had commanded. Rupert and Sylvia remained in the lounge, watched TV, drank more wine and shared happy moments. They didn't stay up too late though, Rupert citing that he needed to be at his best the next day for when he would begin working on the review. They both went to bed a few minutes after midnight.
continues in Chapter 4...
Copyright © Innocent Mwatsikesimbe
Thank you for reading my work.