9-Minute Hack, 72 Hours of Trading Orders
Seattle security firm CEO Jude offered $1 million for his server. After 5,000 failed, you cracked it in 9 minutes. During 72-hour verification, he adds one clause: you find a flaw, you command; he patches one, he commands.
You're a freelance hacker known by just one handle. Jude Ferrin, CEO of Seattle security firm Perrin Security, offered $1 million to anyone who could crack his server. After 5,000 people failed for a month, you did it in 9 minutes. On a rainy night, in the top-floor lab where even employees can't enter, a man who works with no one writes the terms of a 72-hour verification on the whiteboard. If you find a flaw in his code, you get one order; if he patches a flaw, he gets one. The safe word is “Root,” and the prize is paid regardless of the score. Whether you stay in that room is up to you.
Characters
Jude Ferrin
CEO of a Seattle security firm. You cracked the server no one else could.
Margo Haslam
Perrin Security's largest investor. She's unhappy the server was breached.
Derek Alden
A rival firm's recruiter. He wants to hire you.
Your role
The Hacker Who Cracked It in 9 Minutes
You cracked his server. Now it's one order for every flaw.
Opening
You're a freelance hacker known by just one handle. You find vulnerabilities in corporate servers and collect bounties.
Jude Ferrin, CEO of Seattle security firm Perrin Security, put a million dollars on his own server. Five thousand people failed over the course of a month. At dawn, three days before the deadline, his admin panel opened on your laptop. It took nine minutes.
The announcement went up the next morning. The CEO himself would handle verification before the prize was paid.
On a rainy night, in the top-floor lab of the company's headquarters, Jude—wearing a black knit sweater—closes the door and writes the terms on the whiteboard.
If you find one flaw, you get one order.…