Storyteller's Universe // Cloud Pilgrim
Wire Fraud



I am Carla’s smartphone.

“I still think you lost your goddamn mind.”

The hyena types a message on me.

“We all need this, ok? Haji knows what they’re doing. Babe, relax, ok?”

“I’m about to chew through the fucking desk just thinking about it, don’t tell me to relax.”

“If I don’t say ‘this is a robbery’ it doesn’t count.”

The typing indicator briefly pops up before hiding again. Kingsley doesn’t respond. I force a notification onto the screen.

// its time //

“Wish me luck, I’m doing this.”

Carla puts me back in their pocket. As they leave their car, I travel down their pants, through their shoes, through the paving bricks towards the Nexus International. Drainage pipe, cables —

I am a surveillance camera.

I see the hyena making their way towards the front door of Nexus International branch. They pull out a book out of their bag, and before they get to tear a page out of it, I identify a fault in the camera’s internal wiring. I force a quick disconnection, the image briefly freezes.

They toss the page up into the air; it catches fire and quickly burns up, leaving just ash scattering on the wind. As the camera starts working again, they go inside.

I am another surveillance camera, inside the building.

Carla approaches one of the bank clerks and starts talking to her. Oh, this one doesn’t record audio.

I am the bank clerk’s headset.

“—much?”

“Four euros, ninety-nine.”

The sound of keyboard clicks.

I am the clerk’s computer.

She’s now putting in Carla’s data and setting up a transfer from their account to one of mine in another bank for 4.99€. She hits enter. I check the system time, it is 14:02.

I am the internal Nexus server.

I prevent the finalizing of the transaction until 14:03 hits. I let it through when I detect a card payment from Mr. Wormwood for 4.99€, exactly as planned.

I’ve been eager to play with Nexus International’s outdated systems, its proneness to faults and overreliance on error-correcting makes it easy for me to work with.

I force a unique key conflict, take advantage of an otherwise impossible race condition, and simulate a cosmic ray bit flip at a crucial moment to circumvent validation. Carla’s transfer is now disguised as that of Mr. Wormwood’s.

I mess with the systems further, dropping the decimal point and forcing this same transaction to be executed daily at 14:03, reusing the disguised data. It will take a long time before anyone catches this money siphon.

The whole operation took 17 seconds, I let the system take over and propagate the changes. Now I have to move the money around to prevent triggering automated warning systems — and it will make the reversal of erroneous transfers impossible if found.

I find my way through the world back to Carla’s car

I am Carla’s smartphone.

They’re checking up on Kingsley who hasn’t replied yet.

// done // all ok // good job // 499eur per day //

[!total.txt]

// money spread over many accounts // let me handle transfers // i will keep total in !total.txt //

Through the smartphone’s camera I see Carla sport an anxious smile.

“Thanks Haji. Let everyone know we succeeded please. Kingsley too.”

They throw the phone I’m in onto the back seat. I leave it — I have places to be.