Storyteller's Universe // Cloud Pilgrim
Wire Fraud
Khalfani:
I am Carla’s smartphone.
Kingsley:
“I still think you lost your goddamn mind.”
The hyena types a message on me.
Carla:
“We all need this, ok? Haji knows what they’re doing. Babe, relax, ok?”
Kingsley:
“I’m about to chew through the fucking desk just thinking about it, don’t tell me to relax.”
Carla:
“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.
Haji:
// its time //
Carla:
“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.
Clerk:
“—much?”
Carla:
“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I’ve been eager to play with Nexus International’s outdated systems, its proneness to faults and overreliance on error-correcting makes it easy for me to work with.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.
Haji:
// done // all ok // good job // 499eur per day //
Haji:
[!total.txt]
Haji:
// 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.
Carla:
“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.