A Big Surprise

The first rule in this job was to look like you belong. The more you look like you belong, the less likely it was that someone would notice that you didn’t. As he walked through the lobby of InterGen Consolidated’s headquarters, briefcase in hand, Newton Bell kept his walk confident, a flash drive sequestered in a hidden pocket of his tailored jacket. He trusted that his tailored suit, purposeful stride and confident demeanor to allow him to pass unnoticed by anyone who might interfere with the completion of his job. When it came to corporate espionage, he took few hard chances. One of several freelance, private consultants that were often hired by corporations, Newton worked on a contract basis. A contract could last anywhere from a few weeks toa few months, depending on what the client wanted.

His current contract wasn’t with InterGen, but rather with another company, Quest Industries. The flash drive in his pocket contained several programs designed to act as viruses, which were to be loaded onto a computer in order to disrupt InterGen’s work. Once uploaded, the virus programs contained on the flash drive would set InterGen Consolidated back weeks, even months. Depending on how far back it set them, it could take just as long for them to recover, if they ever did. Which was exactly what his employers wanted. Payback for reneging on a deal with Quest Industries. Such was common amongst the corporations in the city these days.

He followed the route he’d been given, avoiding just enough of the security and passing just enough personnel, while walking the fine line of just polite enough, until he reached a ground floor office. Based on the information he had been given, this was one of the first offices to begin work in the morning. He found an active computer and used the provided information to get into it. He plugged in the flash drive and began the program upload onto the computer. Nothing would appear out of the ordinary for anyone else using that computer that day. He would be done and gone before anyone was wiset.

The computer signaled the completion of the upload. Newton removed the flash drive from the computer and returned it to its’ pocket. Tomorrow when the employees booted up the computer, the viruses would kick in. It would delete and overwrite everything else he did today , aside from the uploads before the chaos began and wreaked havoc on the system. InterGen Consolidated wouldn’t know what hit them. After all, big surprises come in small packages.