through the first security door and greeted Yamada. While I fiddled
with Tam's printouts, she proceeded to give him a very Japanese-style
dressing down, disguised as a series of pale compliments. She reviewed
all her work for Dai Nippon, just happening to mention Noda-sama this
and Noda-sama that every other breath. The hapless guy sucked in his
breath and bowed a lot and _hai, so_-ed about once a second and then
_sumimasen_-ed some more. By the time the elevator appeared, she'd
destroyed him. He'd lost so much face he'd never dare mention our visit
to Noda or anybody.
About two minutes later we were out on the sleet-covered sidewalk,
looking for a cab. It was a heroic effort, but eventually we were
headed back downtown. Secure and holding.
Although my upstairs office was freezing, I was mesmerized watching the
flashing green numbers spin on my little IBM screen. It was like
playing one of those "fruit machines" at the local bars, except we were
sitting there witnessing a gigantic intelligence turned against itself,
searching for the crack in its own armor. There was something ironic
about the fact that the Japanese were such a homogenous, disciplined
people they didn't need vast arrays of American-style safeguards to
keep crazies off their computers. Unfortunately for them, they weren't
expecting a couple of American criminals with no such scruples.
By four A.M. we had watched three million random numbers tried; by
first light we were up to six.
"Tam, I'm beginning to get this sinking feeling MITI must have changed
the prefix." I was bringing a new pot of coffee, half staggering up the
carpeted stairs. "Or maybe we should have done it sequentially."
"Maybe, but that would mean wasting a lot of time on numbers that are
improbable. This is our best chance." She poured another cup of java
while I just stretched out on the floor. "Damn. I wish I could remember
what the other alpha was. MX what? That could save us days."
"We don't have days." I closed my eyes. "Try hypnosis."
She sat staring at the screen for a few moments, then slowly wheeled
around. "I know why I couldn't remember it. It was a repeat. Matt, it
was X."
"Go with it."
"Hang on." She did some quick typing and hit the play
button. Her face was showing the strain, but I loved her looks. What a
champ. We were together; us against the beast. Unfortunately, though,
the beast was still ahead.
At seven-thirty Ben roused himself and lumbered expectantly up the
stairs. With a silent curse I put on my boots and took him out for a
stroll on the ice. He hated it. When we came back, I decided to give up
and crash. Come on, this was insane, a billion-to-one shot and we
didn't even know what the prize was at the bottom of the box. We were
getting nowhere. MITI had changed the code and screwed us. Fortunately,
however, I heroically vowed to try and stay awake till eight A.M. That
was it. The end.
At exactly 7:49 the numbers abruptly stopped. "ACCESS CODE MXX909090
CONFIRMED--DECRYPTOR KEY ACTIVATED." Confidential MITI memos started
scrolling in orderly green clumps up the screen.
"My God, Matt, turn on your printer."