Chapter Four
Riglan
I never expected to pick up work from a dating service, but it was intriguing to see. Very hush-hush because the corporate bigwigs did not want to know another hacker or group of them had gotten into their system and done some very naughty things.
The call came in just after I woke up that afternoon, and at first, I thought it was a joke.
When someone begins with, “Have you ever considered using a dating service?” a client needing my services was not the first thing to come to mind.
I was about to press disconnect and block when the voice said, “Don’t hang up. ”
“Not interested in a dating service,” I replied.
“Not asking you to sign up,” they went on. “Have I reached the contractor called…Sketch?”
Hmmm.
“Maybe you should start out with what you are looking for and where you heard that name.”
He cleared his throat. “First thing I need to say is that we work with a particular clientele. I have to be sure that isn’t an impediment for you. We run into prejudice sometimes.”
“What is the name of your service?” They were winding around in a way that was making me wonder how far I wanted to go with this. “Because if it’s something unsavory like…”
“Oh no! Nothing like that.” He chuckled. “We match up shifters. And as to how we got your name, you worked with one of our clients a while back. Helped them out of a difficult situation. They mentioned your name as a computer wizard.”
“But they didn’t say whether I was willing to work with shifters?” For whatever they were beating around the bush about.
“No, it just didn’t come up.”
“And you didn’t think to ask? I mean, if you were wondering if I was a good fit for your needs?”
A silence lasted long enough, I wasn’t sure if the caller remained on the line, but finally they huffed out a breath. “Sketch, our business is in trouble. Someone has gotten into our algorithm and wreaked havoc.”
It took some work, but eventually I was able to determine that their matching system had gone completely wonky. Nobody was being matched with the right people, and they were getting inundated with complaints.
“What have you done so far? I’m assuming you have in-house coders and other programming staff who handle any issues? And there are services who can get in and find out what’s wrong or deal?” Really, this was going to be a simple job, and not one they needed me for.
“We do, and they’ve tried, but whoever did this had skills beyond our people.
And as to outside services? With our particular type of service, we have to be particular about who we let into our files.
This is why I want to be sure you are comfortable working with shifters.
Or, if you’d rather not, we understand and hope you can refer us to someone else.
Because if this is not dealt with, we’re out of business. ”
“Let me put your minds at rest. I often work for shifters.” And that was all they needed to know. I had no shame about my own status or heritage, but the work I did compelled me to release as little information as possible. “Now, I’ll need access to everything.”
“But we cannot release our clients’ information…”
“If you want me to find where these people or possibly even an AI source are climbing into your system, I am requiring your permission to dive into every dark corner. I could do it now without, but what would be the point of working for you and doing it behind your back?”
In the end, of course, they allowed me to do what I needed.
They’d already tried the other resources available to them with no results.
Before I even got in, I had some ideas about where the hack came from, but assuming could send me down the wrong path, so I had some long nights ahead of me, most likely.
Not that I minded at all. I loved a puzzle.
After working for a few hours, I was starting to make real progress. Even beginning to wonder why the in-house staff at the dating service had such trouble. Could this be a red herring? A talented operator would definitely insert some of those.
And then it happened.
A private message via a forum I had up on one of my screens.
“I need help. I’m being stalked.”
“I’m not—”
“Please, I don’t know who else to ask.”
Lost in the work, I didn’t know what to do, but I didn’t take random jobs.
I had made too many enemies for that, and after a few more polite attempts to discourage them, I said, “You can’t afford me.
” I blocked them and returned to my job.
Enemy in disguise or just foolish amateur, I didn’t have time for them.