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Coming of Age

Doug M. Dawson

    “I appreciate you giving me your story. Spell your name out, will you?”
    “J-A-S-O-N ... M-E-V-E-R-S. But this isn’t my ...”
    “I know, it’s a hacker you know. You told me that on the phone. Of course, you’re a hacker too, right - that’s how you know him.”
    “If I am, I’m nothing like him. When will they run the story?”
    “Next week some time.”
    “That’s cool. Lemme just say one thing here ...”
    “Here goes, I’m turning on the tape recorder - now go!”
    “Okay ... like this guy I know ... was always bright as a kid - school was a breeze. He, ah ... spent all his time on computers; you know, it was easy for him. He like ... taught himself how to program, built his own PC. Over time he ... learned how to hack into other computers over the Internet. I ... ah, think he caused some havoc. He read about viruses ... saw what they did ... studied them and all ... learned how to write his own.”
    “Why did he become a hacker in the first place?”
    “Gives you power ... hacking does - You feel like God.”
    “That’s an interesting comparison - he told you that?”
    “Yeah, he told me.”
    “And writing viruses gives you power, like hacking?”
    “Even more ... they can’t come after you because they, like, don’t know who you are. “
    “Who’s ‘they’?”
    “People you send the viruses to. He, ah ... picked on the most popular kids: the ‘in crowd’ - he couldn’t stand ‘em.”
    “Why not?”
    “They’re in and you’re out. They treat you like you don’t exist.”
    “Anybody else this guy didn’t like?”
    “Jocks. It’s like a fraternity: they hang together. They push you around. If you fight back, they come after you with their friends. I ...”
    “Okay, jocks were his enemy. Did they bother your friend?”
    “Hazing - they pushed him around in the hallway and after school.”
    “That’s all they did to him?”
    “Yeah, and he was jealous, I guess - of guys with the prettiest girls. He was pissed off at the girls, too. I mean, they, like ignored him.”
    “So that’s why he became a hacker - to pay back the jocks, the popular kids and the pretty girls?”
    “You’re making it sound like ...”
    “Like he had an attitude, like he was maladjusted?”
    “Well, he had ... for the girls he had this ‘Butterfly’ virus - picture of a butterfly that pops up and goes away. It looks like those Internet windows that come up, like where they try to sell you something. The virus deleted key files that made the computer unusable ... ‘till they’re reinstalled. Usually takes people a day or two to realize what’s wrong and fix it, and then only if they really know computers. His favorite trick was sending viruses in an e-mail attachment the day before mid-terms and finals. That way the girls couldn’t use their computers to do reports and shit.”
    “Your friend sounds like a vicious little brute.”
    “Heh, heh ... something like that.”
    “So, what other tricks did he have up his sleeve?”
    “A virus for jocks. It showed a picture of like an athletic supporter. It said ‘This Is You!’ on it. The picture appeared on and off. While the guy tries to figure out what’s going on, the virus reformats his hard drive. He, ah ... loses everything.”
    “Nice. You’re grinning. I guess you can appreciate that one, being a hacker and all.”
    “Like I said, that was him, not me.”
    “Wasn’t it a little dangerous? Didn’t the other kids know who the computer geeks were and guess who was doing it to them?”
    “A couple of the guys suspected him. They punched him around a little after school, but they couldn’t prove anything.”
    “Didn’t the teachers and principal get wind of it, not to mention the parents?”
    “There was a stink; the newspapers ran a story. The school shrink made a speech in the auditorium and came around to the classrooms.”
    “But he couldn’t talk this guy into giving himself up, could he?”
    “As if.”
    “Then what happened?”
    “That Columbine thing.”
    “Right - Columbine High School. How did he feel about that?”
    “He rooted for the shooters.”
    “And he told you that?”
    “Well ... it’s like ... I know him real well.”
    “Ok, so he hacked his way through high school, this guy. Then what?”
    “He majored in computer science at NYU ... graduated in three years - I think that’s a record.”
    “Went right on hacking the whole time?”
    “Yeah ... it was like his ego took over. He couldn’t let go of it ... the power it gives you. He wanted to write the most powerful virus ever. He broke into some big company’s computer.”
    “A big ... what company?”
    “Can’t tell you that. He just wanted to see if he could do it.”
    “O ... kay. ... Anything else he did?”
    “Well, he stopped.”
    “Stopped hacking?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Just like that? ... Why?”
    “It was like two things. He ... like did some damage to that company’s records.”
    “And?”
    “And some people got fired ... they worked on the computer system and nobody could tell who did it, so they fired three of ‘em.”
    “Did you know any of them?”
    “Yeah, he was a friend. He wasn’t supposed to get hurt. He’s having a hard time finding another job. He may, like lose his apartment and ... I ....”
    “I see. So, what was the other thing that happened to your friend to make him stop?”
    “September 11.”
    “Yes, very terrible day. But why did that make him stop hacking?”
    “He felt like he was a ... a terrorist too.”
    “By destroying information, you mean?”
    “Yeah, that’s right. He was depressed ... he, like couldn’t sleep.”
    “You haven’t hacked once, since September 11?”
    “No, I ... he hasn’t done anything ... hey, you said ‘you’ ... it wasn’t me ...”
    “Mr. Mevers, you know things I don’t think anyone would tell you. It would be too risky.”
    “Look, now ... I ...”
    “I could be from the F.B.I. I could arrest you.”
    “Now wait. I tried to give you a story ... in good faith.”
    “In good faith? Is that how you used computers, in good faith?”
    “You ... wouldn’t turn me in. Not after I gave you my, I mean his, story.”
    “Hey, this is journalism ... the public has a right to know. By the way, how old are you?”
    “Twenty-three. What’s it to you?”
    “Just trying to make my article complete.”
    “I gave you my name ... you could ruin my whole ...”
    “Don’t worry, I won’t turn you over to the cops - I can’t prove anything. But you didn’t fool me for a minute. This article will be written just like this interview - coming straight from the horse’s mouth.”
    “Where is it like going to appear? It’s like in a school paper, right?”
    “I write for the New York Times.”
    “Th ... you look the same age as me ... I thought you said ...”
    “I just said ‘paper’ on the phone. I didn’t say which one, and I’m twenty-six. I know I look young, but I’ve been writing for the Times for a year and a half.”
    “If you use my name ... makes you feel powerful, doesn’t it? To be able to write about people, ruin them if you want. Nobody can do anything to you.”
    “Sound familiar, does it?”

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