Intelligence measured and meted out

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” (Albert Einstein)

Mikh had always known what he wanted. As a child he had dreamed of a career in Computer Technology. Nothing small, not for Mikh, he wanted to be top of the game, king of Media. He never joined in any childish games or wasted time, as he considered play to be banal and infantile. He buried his head in books, magazines, computer screens and anything that remotely resembled computer technology. He frequented the library where he was well known.

'Lab rat, bookworm, boring Mik', were some of the monikers his peers labeled him. He did not care, they bored him just as much, he wished they would leave him alone.

In college, first there was Lisa, then Magda, then came Jerida. They all left after a month or so. Mikh was so wrapped up in himself, his people skills kept deserting him. Still he refused to change for anybody, he had a goal and nothing was going to distract him.

One day Maliak walked into his life. Maliak was his double, his twin from across the globe, an African gift who loved the same things that he did. They joined forces and were unstoppable in the pursuit of Technological prowess. Glory was not their main goal, it just came naturally with the territory. They finished college and started their own firm, developing the things they loved.

For five years all went well. Then Maliak started acting strangely. He was nervous all the time, always peeking out of windows and keeping in the shadows. In Vain Mikh tried to find the cause of the change in his friend.

Two years later, Maliak completely disappeared, but not before leaving a computer disc with a coded and encrypted message left inside Mikh's personal computer. It did not take long for him to decode and decrypt the message, this was his strength in the partnership between them.

Acting upon the complete and total faith which Mikh had placed in him, Maliak had tricked him, made him sign away the complete rights to the business bit by bit over time. Where had Maliak found a Russian group. Maliak owed them millions in gambling and business debts, debts which Mikh knew nothing about, so much debt, that he could never repay it in his lifetime.

They were coming Mikh, coming for you, for the entire takeover, please do not resist, just let them have it, or they will kill you. I cannot tell you where I am, but please don't try to find me. On the disc was the entire breakdown of all transactions and the names of all involved. Burn after reading, it read. Mikh had no intentions of burning anything. He would eventually need proof and leverage.

The business had just signed extremely profitable contracts with major software companies, they were at the peak of breakthrough technologies which would stun the world. How and when did Maliak allow himself to become involved with such dangerous people? Mikh sat in complete stillness and silence for a very long time, just staring at the computer screen. He had never been a violent man, but feelings of utter and total rage slowly filled his entire being. Anger and numbness consumed his every sense. No one was taking his life from him, not while he still had a breath to breathe.

As a teenager, Mikh's father had insisted he accompany him to the gun range, he had hated the idea. But somehow curiosity had won and he had learned to shoot. As it turned out, he had been exceptionally accurate at marksmanship, not James Bond accurate, but pretty impressive in his own rights. His father had been elated, they did not have much in common.

Still Mikh was not a violent man. Sure he could defend himself in a fight, but not everything needed to be done with violence.

After racking his mind for a solution, Mikh decided to fight fire with fire. Was he not master of media, he thought. He rubbed his hands together, pulled his chair close to the desk and begun his work. He gathered all the information he could on the Russian organization.

He started hacking:

C and C++, JavaScript and PHP

Python. Exploit Writing: Python is a general-purpose programming language and used extensively for exploit writing in the field of hacking.

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JavaScript. Web Hacking: Currently, JavaScript is one of the best programming languages for hacking web applications.

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PHP. Web Hacking Techniques: Hypertext Preprocessor or PHP is a server-side programming language used to build websites.

4

SQL. Database Interaction: Next on this list of the best programming languages for hacking is SQL. ...

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C Programming. Exploit Writing and Development: C, the mother of all programming languages, is used massively in the security field; it helps with exploiting writing and development.

Add all this to the new programming that he had completed and hopefully, no one would be the wiser, he hoped Maliak was not involved in this part.

What Maliak had not known was that Mikh had just completed the new hacking protocol model that the military had commissioned them to secretly undertake. With this program they could infiltrate any technology anywhere in the world. If the Russians got their hands on it, the world would be doomed. His hands flew across the keyboard, time was of the essence, he had to find out what was going on.

He opened file after file downloading quickly, he wasn't going to be overly arrogant, he could be found out at any time.

Suddenly a file caught his eyes. It had Maliak's name on it. Mikh tried to open it, it was encrypted. His fingers flexed back and forth, tense seconds later the file opened. Stunned, he could not believe what he was seeing. They had sliced into his friend's entire body, using nanotechnology, they had altered his entire makeup.

Maliak's face popped up on the screen.

"Hello Mikh, so good to see you"!

He knew. They knew. He did not have much time. Mikh quickly uploaded the entire business files into his backup laptop. Then he grabbed the USB drive with the new virus that they had just perfected. He had to get to the address on the screen, he had to put a stop to Maliak. Too much was at risk to have him operational for a foreign and enemy competitor. He pushed the self destruct on his console, tears fell from his eyes as he took a last look at his hard work, but he had no choice.

Mikh heard cars pulling up outside, he grabbed his computer, stuck the USB in his pocket and ran hastily out the back. He always kept a back-up car in the underground carpark next door, not even Maliak knew about it. As he drove out in the opposite direction, he saw the half a dozen sleek, black SUV's pull up to the building. They were looking for him here. Good. No one expected him to go directly into the lion's den.

Mikh stopped at a women's clothing store, walked in, and walked out looking like a very attractive woman wearing a well-made business suit. He opted for a chic pair of flats, no heels for him. The short upswept wig completed the ensemble perfectly.

It took him half an hour to find the address, it was located within a very upscale business district. He was looking for the second floor mainframe computer room. No one paid him much attention, a glance from a male or two, nothing in-depth to worry about. He slipped unnoticed into the room, located what he was looking for and plugged in the USB device. The virus had been uploaded. He pulled the fire alarm. Sorry Maliak, you left me no choice.

Confusion reigned as the computer system started glitching and shutting down. Amidst the pandemonium Mikh quietly slipped out, blending with the small exodus of people from the building. Looking around and seeing no threat, he felt confident that he had not been noticed.

He suddenly heard the most awful screaming, alarmed, he turned around. Maliak was being carried from the building, he was clawing at his entire body. A minute later, he fell quiet, his hands dropped lifelessly to his sides and his body slumped to the ground.

Mikh drove directly to the military facility and turned over the plans to the proper authority. He reported the entire situation and was assured that they would deal with it immediately.

They relocated him, he now works exclusively for the military, he does not exist as far as the world is concerned.

Maliak felt the nanobots sear through his body, the pain was unbearable, horribly excruciating. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as tears of anger dripped from his eyelids.

"I'm coming for you Mikh"! He roared loudly, making everyone almost jump out of their skins.

Most had been arrested. Some had escaped. They all smiled.

Florian Olivo-Unsplash.

Mikh watched the blip on the screen suddenly light up. He was ready.