Sunday, October 18, 2009

Source Code: JASON


Jason attached the last of the micro thin bandages to his genitals and prepared to get off. Far superior to the early days of online love making which required a cumbersome body glove with gels and electrodes, the new system of tactile sensors and touch screen technology was as close to skin as you could get. Enabling people to have sex with their partners in virtual suites despite being miles or even continents away, the new software was a hit with couples who had the money and were so inclined. Jason didn’t have the money or a willing partner, but it didn’t stop him from fulfilling his overactive libido. And Jason was slick. So slick that nobody knew what he was up to. They didn’t have a clue that they were being violated in ways that seemed physically and technically impossible. He was a smooth operator all right and so far, his entire scam was untraceable to a fault, not a link in his memory. He even found a way around thumbprint recognition and was well on his way to becoming the web’s foremost cyber stalker. Entering the digitally encrypted bedrooms of others with relative ease, he enjoyed the pleasures of any woman he desired, all he had to do was be careful. But as Jason wiped down his 26-inch hi-res plasma screen to ensure maximum sensation, he noticed something for the first time. The icons in his toolbar that concealed his server and location were not displayed. He hesitated for a moment before running a debugging scan. Had his identity been compromised? Maybe it was an internal glitch? Jason didn’t know for sure but he suspected someone was onto him. Running the debugging scan would automatically reconfigure his file structure making him vulnerable to detection, but it was a risk he had to take. Despite his constant upgrades, even the best anti – spyware wasn’t fullproof. Jason was now getting into shades of gray where previously he had dealt in black and white. Either you had the code and the site was secure, or you didn’t and it wasn’t. Nice and clean, no guesswork. That’s what Jason liked about his scam so much. It avoided the messy entanglements of relationships, the time and money spent courting and the whole process of meeting and finding a mate. Of course he also liked the fact that he could have sex without a condom and never worry about the spread of disease or pregnancy. Not that he was all that concerned with the latter, but once society recognized its health advantages, the cyber-sex revolution was not only embraced, it was encouraged. Obviously, the architects of the movement didn’t pay enough attention to the downside potential of guys like Jason running loose online and cherry picking the girl of his dreams with a few clicks of his mouse. There were safeguards to be sure, but there’s always a weakness in any system. So far, the firewall and back-end security measures had not been breached. Even Jason’s activity went unnoticed until today, but a new program flagged the intruder and launched it’s own virus. Like a worm, it snaked through the web until its mission was complete. To find the sender. Jason learned of this new wrinkle and was preparing to write a wall of code to defend against it when it arrived ahead of schedule. He wasn’t expecting it for a day or two, and now he was in a bind. For the first time since his techno charade began, fear had reared its ugly head in the psyche of Jason Dunbar.