This story was written by crypt221b
Ever since I can
remember, there weren’t many Indian things I thought highly of. ISRO was a rare
exception. Capable of developing and deploying geostationary satellites and
cryogenic rocket engines, launching lunar probes which would later go on to confirm
presence of water on the moon, and now recently, a spacecraft orbiting Mars. For
a country that has one of the biggest slum area, gaining a spot in the top 5
space agencies in the world is a pretty remarkable feat. ISRO made India proud
among the world’s intellectual circles.
I always wanted
to be a part of ISRO. These scientists and engineers had my utmost respect. You
can only imagine how religiously I look up to my Dad who actually worked there!
No, he wasn’t a scientist or an engineer. He was a Senior Networks and System
Admin, basically in charge of all the computers. But that didn’t alter my
regards for him in any way. He was loving, supportive, geeky, and the smartest
guy I knew. He was my hero.
Then I turned 18.
The charm wore off. I started noticing weird oddities about ISRO. You know how
you have these internal flags that can tell when something’s offbeat. You can’t
really explain why since these flags are built from your life experiences and
act on instinct. Some of these flags were waving bright red for ISRO. No matter
how cool my Dad was, you could ignore these oddities only so many times until you
realized that something was fishy about the organization. It was enough to make
me give up my seat at IIST and go to US for a computer science degree.
5th
November, 2013.
ISRO had launched
and placed the MOM satellite in Earth’s orbit. It was night time. I was in my
dorm room with my roommate, Tyler. He was an Arts student and we really got
along well. He was busy working on his manga comic, taking up the entire bloody
floor but I didn’t mind because he drew the hottest chicks imaginable. I was
just getting started on a coding assignment, when got a call from Dad. Oh snap, I forgot. I picked up the phone
and said, “Hey Dad, congrats! Sorry, I missed the live covera-“. I was cut off
mid-sentence. My sister was on the other end, crying uncontrollably.
After a moment,
she gathered herself and said, “Come home, Rakesh. Dad passed away of a heart attack.”
The world around me stopped still, as I tried to grasp the gravity of what she
had just said. For a second, I
couldn’t speak.
Swallowing a
heavy lump in my throat, I said, “No, what are you saying?! How did this happen!?”
She said, “I got
a call from Dad’s friend saying he just collapsed in his cabin. By the time help
arrived, it was all too late.”
Her words cut
deeper than any blade. Tyler looked up at me making an expression as if asking
what’s wrong. Trying hard not to break my voice, I said, “Look, don’t worry at
all okay? Just take care of Mommy. I’ll be there by tomorrow.” By the time I
was looking at international flights rates, I was in tears.
The funeral was
attended by all my relatives, family friends, neighbours and a few of Dad’s colleagues
from System’s. Though nobody from the core senior team of ISRO came. Cold bastards. From that day on, I
loathed ISRO.
24th September, 2014.
“So, you’re
saying it’s impossible for me to touch anything?” she asked. I was sitting in
the college cafeteria, having lunch with Amy, a girl I was dating. She was a
Foreign Student Exchange Program student from Dublin and was here for only a
semester. An introverted girl which is reason why I liked her. I liked how she
wouldn’t start taking selfies at random places. I liked how she preferred parks
over restaurants. How she didn’t watch dubbed anime because it was apparently
disrespectful towards their original voices. She was smart, funny, artistic and
emotionally mature. Also, I figured dating her and having my heart broken after
6 months would be a great way to get over my previous emotional setback.
“Yep, that’s
right,” I said. “Electrons are on the outermost shell and they repel each
other. So you never really touch anything. What you feel is just… repulsion.”
“Oh…” she said.
“Does that mean I’m still a virgin?”
I almost fell off
the chair. Well, so much for
introvertism. “Funny,” I muttered.
Then, I heard the
word “ISRO”. Normally, the ears filters out random noise but certain trigger
words when heard, really put you on alert. The TV was playing a piece about how
the Orbiter had successfully entered Mar’s orbit. India was the first Asian
country to accomplish this feat. I cringed.
Amy sighed. She
said, “You know you need to stop making faces and be proud for once. They did a
really great job!”
I said “I don’t
have a problem with their job. I have a problem with them.”
That night, a
message alert distracted me. I was lying in bed, busy texting with Amy, doing
all the cheesy things one does while in a relationship.
Me: UUUGGGHHH. I
think Prof. White mailed us a new assignment. :-(
Amy: Again? This
is the 3rd one this weekend! He needs leave you poor kids alone.
Me: I know! It
sucks! I better get started with it. Meanwhile, you write him a letter
explaining our dire state.
Amy: Haha, sure.
Get started now. Goodnight. <3
Me: Goodnight.
<3
Okay, cheesy convo over. Let’s get our hands dirty.
Tyler said, “You
know I’ve seen a lot of couples that do weird stuff but that you two take the
cake.”
“I know,” I said.
“That’s why I like her.”
“No you don’t
understand, I’m her classmate. And I barely see her in class. She just hangs
out with you all day.”
I smirked and
said, “Don’t get me wrong but do I detect a hint of jealousy here?”
“Oh go fuck
yourself already. I’m the one who introduced you to her,” he said. “Anyways, I
know you want to experience a heartbreak and all, but don’t go overboard. I
don’t want to be the one driving you around town for therapy.”
“Yes Tyler, I
promise I won’t go psychotic.” I said.
He chuckled. “That’s
what they all say.”
I gave him a
dismissive look and I opened the mail to see that it wasn’t from Prof. White or
any other professor. No, this mail was from an unknown sender. Spam? Are you kidding me? I opened it
anyways, because I enjoy reading spam mails. They’re always so desperate, I
find it rude to simply delete it. Also, their English is incredibly funny.
Little did I know what the devil waited for me inside.
From: neoXXXX@gmail.com
Subject: Read
this now. Urgent. Not spam.
Are you Rakesh Sharma from Bangalore, India? If so, please reply. We need to talk.
Interactive spam huh? Well this is new. I wondered which website decided to sell out my private information.
I replied:
Yes, Neo. I am
the one that you seek.
I eagerly wait
for a reply but instead of an email, I get a chat reply. You sneaky bastard! He added me in hangouts chat. This is spamming
on a whole new level!
Neo: Look, I need
to tell you something very important. Your Dad didn’t simply die, he was murdered.
The smile on my
face vanished faster than the speed of light. For a second, I almost fell for
it.
Me: Okay who the
fuck is this? You think it’s funny? Stop messing around, pal.
Neo: Rakesh, I am
not kidding around. There’s something seriously wrong with ISRO. Now, I’ve
always had a fair share of doubt but what happened yesterday definitely hammered
the last nail in the coffin.
I decided to play
along. I shouldn’t have. But for some reason, he seemed to know what he was
talking about.
Me: Okay you have
my attention. Speak.
Neo: I’m going to
voice call you. Make sure you are alone.
Me: Wait, give me
5 minutes.
I took my laptop
and told Tyler I’ll be gone for a while. He smirked and said, “Yeah, just make
sure you kids use protection.”
I went to the
terrace of my building. It was the only lonely place within close proximity.
I sat near the terrace
door and started the voice call. “Okay, speak.”
Neo said, “Thank
you for hearing me out since I know it can be hard for you to trust. You see, I
started as an intern in System’s back when your father was in charge. I rose to
Junior System Admin’s role and was satisfied with the way things were. But what
happened yesterday, changed everything. While fixing a computer’s LAN connection
in a core lab, I overheard a conversation between two scientists who were
walking by. I was under the computer table, sitting patiently for the central
server to restart. I’m pretty sure they didn’t notice me there because this is
the conversation that followed.”
He pasted a
conversation in the chat box. It read:
“Can you believe we pulled off the Mars
mission?”
“I know. So
crazy! And I thought that scumbag Systems guy sabotaged everything. With all
the data he acquired, he would have destroyed everything we’ve been working on.”
“Don’t speak
about him, you moron. He’s been dealt with. Just focus on what’s next.”
“Right, right.”
Chills ran up my
spine as every strand of hair in my body stood straight. The cold breeze of the
night didn’t help. My voice quivered as I said, “I don’t get it. Why would ISRO
scientists murdered my Dad?”
Neo said, “This
came as an absolute shock to me to me as well. When I thought about it, the
answer was clear. Money. These bastards had manipulated the budget and somehow
your father picked up on this. And we all know the audits are pretty much a
joke so they were never going to get caught. From what I think, your Dad started
collecting evidence to put them behind bars.”
I said, “So
you’re saying Dad stole their private data? This makes no sense. Even if you
have access to it, the data would encrypted. There’s no way to decrypt it without
a key.”
“Yes, you’re
right. But if you have physical access to a computer, you can pretty much
always get in. There’s all sorts of ways like spywares and keyloggers. Your Dad
had the motives and the skills to do it.”
Fair enough. I hate to
admit it but the guy seemed legit. He knew way too much about ISRO. I had
little reason to suspect him. I said, “Okay. So, what do you propose we do?”
“Honestly
speaking,” Neo sighed and said, “I don’t really know. Whatever we do, proving
it in a court would be next to impossible without any evidence. I didn’t know
your father all that well, but from what I can recall, he was a great guy. I
just wanted to tell you the truth about your father’s death. I know it’s a long
shot, but if you can think of any place where your Dad could have hid the data,
it might give you a lead. Maybe a pen-drive or a remote FTP or something like
that. I doubt he’d store it on his laptop because it’s too vulnerable and
obvious. But yeah… that’s about your only option. You can contact me if you get
something, I’ll be checking this email weekly. If something solid turns up, we
can go public. Okay? You still there? Hello…”
My brain was
already mining out a memory from its neural chaos. A memory that I had
forgotten I once had. It’s funny how your brain works. Your subconscious stores
all sorts of memories and keeps it buried deep inside only to be revealed at
the perfect opportunity.
I managed to hide
the thrill in my voice and said, “Yes, I’m here.”
I thanked him for
coming out of the blue and helping me the way he did. We said goodbye and ended
the call.
I immediately
called my sister and told her to mail me a picture of the poster in our
parent’s bedroom as soon as possible. She knew better than to ask why and did
it.
I returned to my
room. Tyler wasn’t there, probably had gone to spend the night out with friends.
I eagerly waited for my sister’s email, hoping my hunch was right.
Around two years
ago, me and my friend were in my parent’s bedroom, finding my Dad’s temperature
gun. He gave up and sat on the bed, admiring the huge poster that hung right
across the bed.
“There it is!” I
yelled. “Let’s see whose laptop runs cooler now.”
He laughed and
said, “You know whoever made this poster is a moron.”
I asked, “Oh,
really? Why is that?”
“Well, look at
the name of their website.”
The link was
written in tiny font, vertically across. I had honestly never cared to read it.
I sighed and said, “That’s not a link to their website, smartass. Though, they
really are morons. Anyways, let’s go check out the laptops already.”
It’s funny how I
recalled that incident, after all these years. The e-mail came in. I opened the
attachment and voila! The answer to where Dad hid all the data was staring me
right in the face. The link.
I quickly typed
the link in the address bar and hit “Enter”. It took me to a Google document
that had multiple links, each link redirecting to an anonymous free host, which presumably contained the actual data.
It was exactly what I imagined. The link was a bitly link. For those of you who
don’t know, a bitly link is a URL shortening service. It’s easy to spot them if
you know what you are looking for. They shorten your link into random numbers
which are easier to share. Dad used this exploit ingeniously. First, he stored
the actual data on multiple anonymous free hosts, whose links were then pasted
on a simple Google document made with an anonymous account. That Google
document was then converted into a short URL. This meant he didn’t have to depend
on a paid hosting. It didn’t leave a digital footprint that could trace it back
to him. Heck, he didn’t even need a pen drive, all he needed was that shortened
URL. It contained links to all the free hosts. There were probably 2 pages
worth of links. That probably amounted to hundreds of gigabytes of data.
However, there
was a catch. All those links were password-protected. It was difficult to get
around that. Not impossible though.
I thought about
it and decided tell Neo. In retrospect, that was the biggest mistake of my
life.
Me: Hey, still online?
I think I got something.
After 7 minutes,
his reply came in.
Neo: Are you
serious?
Me: Yes. Hang on,
let me I’ll call you.
He took a while
to pick up. When he finally did, he blurts out, “What on earth did you find?
And that too so quickly?”
I noticed his
voice sounded completely different than before. A voice changer. I said, “Don’t ask me how but I found a bitly
link. You know the ones they use to shorten URL? I just really hoped it would
reveal something important. Well, guess what? I have the list of all the web hosts
Dad used to store his data.”
He said, “No way!
I cannot believe you figured it out so fast. This is incredible. Can I see the
link please?”
I said, “Yes, of
course. I typed it in the chat box. I know it’s a big lead, but the thing is,
the data on those servers is still password-protected. So, what I am thinking
is, we should probably go to the authorities at this point. Then, get them to
mail those web hosts to release the data for investigation. Because most of the
time, these free hosting services are always willing to co-operate if they feel
we have some ground. What do you say?”
There was a long
pause followed by a strange beep.
“Oh Rakesh, you
shouldn’t have,” she said. It was unmistakable. That was Amy’s voice on the
other end. Then before disconnecting the call, she said, “These things… they make
us do horrible things. I’m sorry you got dragged into this. Goodbye.”
The voice call
ended and my world split into two. It took a while for reality sink in. No! Why would she, of all people? I
tried calling her cellphone but she didn’t pick up. I freaked out like a mad dog.
I ran up to her hostel, in the middle of the night, only to find that it was
locked. No, this cannot be happening.
I know I once told I wanted a heartbreak, but this was overkill by a long shot.
Unable to take it anymore, I passed out on the hostel corridor.
Two strange
things happened after that day. All the free webhosts links stopped working and
I never saw Amy again. I asked around and found out she had to leave due to her
“medical operation” and wasn’t going to return for the remaining semester. She
was gone for good. Her phone number gave a dead tone. Her so-called ‘friends’,
were good acquaintances at best, who didn’t even know she was an Exchange
Program student.
I am lost and
depressed and scared. I don’t know what my next move should be. I don’t want to
go legal without a strong case because it can ultimately backfire and shatter
my already devastated life. I am beginning to think that was all just a
nightmare. Maybe Tyler was right. I had become psychotic.