CHAPTER SIX
“Well, that was a colossal fucking waste of time,” frowned Tanner.
“Did you see their screens? Those kids are playing games! The very thing they’re supposed to stop and watch out for.
They’ve got more windows open on those computers than should be legal, switching from gaming sites to shopping sites and then back to work when they think someone is watching. ”
“Well,” frowned Wyatt, “the good news is they have our firewall and security systems. The bad news is, if they’re opening the fucking door for the hackers and thieves, it won’t make a difference. They might as well post a sign – ‘welcome – all are free to come in and steal’.”
“Since that took all of five minutes, let’s head over to the Office of Budget Management. Maybe we’ll have better luck there.”
In fact their luck was incredibly better. The front desk had a young man and young woman, both who jumped up, smiled and greeted them. They gave them coffee, led them to a conference room and seven minutes later a finance manager appeared with his laptop and two large ledgers.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Admiral Peters and General Billings said you might be coming by. I have everything pulled up for you and I’ll show you what we know so far.”
“Wow. This is better service than the last disaster we were in. Okay. I’m AJ. That’s Tanner, Hiro, and Wyatt.”
“Oh, geez, sorry. I’m Dedmond.”
“No problem. We just came from the consumer division to talk about online games and hacking,” said Tanner.
“Oh, shit,” muttered Dedmond. “You should have come here first. I could have told you it’s useless. They hired a bunch of tech savvy kids thinking it would be their golden ticket and honestly, I think they’re part of the problem.”
“We sort of figured that out for ourselves,” nodded Tanner. “They’re over there playing games at work, shopping online, clicking on random links in their social media profiles and that’s just the start of it all. The very games they’re supposed to be investigating are the ones they’re playing.”
“Admiral Peters said that you had someone in your family that got hacked. I find that hard to believe,” he smirked.
“Well, as much as we appreciate that, it happened. Two teenagers that were playing the same game. We’re pretty sure they got into the phones via the pop-up ads. The kids weren’t playing for long and exited the game fairly quickly.”
“Did they get to anything?” asked the man.
“Not that we could see. We were just wondering if the hackers got into this system? The DOD is using gaming to train people on certain equipment and when we found the information about the company that attacked our kids, we got into their system and found DOD and DOJ email addresses. It was surprising to say the least,” said Hiro.
“It doesn’t surprise me. A lot of the younger men and women think because it’s a government phone or laptop, that it’s secure.
And it is to some extent but obviously not completely.
You can be fired just for going to certain sites but it’s all become so complicated and big, it’s hard to keep track of.
“These kids, they go in testing things or looking at games to see if they can copy certain features and don’t ever consider the fact that it could lead them down a rabbit hole.”
“Have you noticed any missing money, any outrageous expenditures on things that can’t be explained?” asked AJ. The man laughed, shaking his head.
“Only every day. Some of the things we spend money on, makes me embarrassed.”
“Like?” frowned Wyatt.
“Like a toilet paper dispenser that has a Bluetooth music player inside it so that the employee can ‘connect’ while doing their business. Who does that? Do your business and get the hell out!” The men just stared at him in partial disbelief, and partial anger.
“Who did it?” asked AJ.
“That’s part of the problem. I can’t tie it to any one person. All I can be sure of is the building.” They all looked at him waiting for an answer. “The capitol building.”
“Why does everything have to always be so fucking complicated?” asked Wyatt, more to himself that anyone in particular. “These damn people are elected and charged with protecting the public and then they go off and do stupid shit like this. They wonder why we hate them all.”
“That’s not all. Fur coats, jewelry, gowns, private jets, luxury vacations, all in the name of research or the need to create impressions for international guests. It’s crazy.
“The good news is that I’m not seeing huge amounts for things I can’t explain. No numerical references or alpha-numerical that have no logic to them. I think we’ve been lucky so far and your system has blocked them but clearly someone is using their work e-mails to play these games.”
“Can you give us an idea of how much money is spent on gaming every year and how much of that is actually legit, approved expenses?” asked Wyatt.
“U.S. consumer spending on video games reached $60.7 billion in 2025, representing the second-highest total on record. It was mostly driven by strong subscription and mobile growth which of course is why you’re here.
“This includes spending on content, hardware, and accessories, with North American players averaging roughly $325 annually on gaming.”
“That doesn’t sound like a lot,” said AJ.
“It’s much bigger when you look at all the numbers. In 2025 spending totaled $60.7 billion. That was about a one-and-a-half percent increase. Doesn’t sound like a lot but there’s so much more.
“In 2024, it was roughly $58-$59 billion. Subscription services grew by more than twenty percent. This is where they get the kids. Once they subscribe, they’re locked in.
Even if they turn off the auto-renew feature, they have access to your device now.
You can delete the game, delete the app, whatever you want. But they’re in.”
“This is sophisticated shit,” said Tanner. “This can’t be a bunch kids doing this.”
“It’s not. I mean, there are some but really it’s a mix of U.S.
and international gaming experts. In countries like Nigeria, India, the Philippines, hell anywhere really, they find tech-savvy people who have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
People always think it’s the gaming gear, consoles, headsets, that shit that’s expensive.
It’s not. Eighty-three-percent of the costs are the game itself. And why?”
“Because that’s where it gets sophisticated,” said AJ. “If the kid sees a game for ten bucks and one for fifty, he assumes the one for fifty is the better game and believe me, the gaming companies make their descriptions sound like the kids are getting real-world experiences. It’s stupid.”
“Bingo.” The man stood and pushed the stack of paper toward them. “I realize this is the digital age but we’d prefer not to send this digitally. It’s all I have for you. All the gaming companies, hackers, everything. It’s more than we could ever handle so believe me, I’m open to your help.”
The men nodded, putting the stacks of paper in their backpacks.
“We’ll be at the DOD and Pentagon tomorrow if you think of anything else or find anything,” said Wyatt. “We really appreciate your help.”
“Hey, it’s me that should thank you. If this problem would go away, my job would literally go back to a nine to five, or at least an eight to six,” he smirked.
As the men walked outside into the gorgeous spring air, the hint of humidity telling them that summer would soon be upon them, they stopped and looked at one another.
“This feels bigger than we can handle,” said Hiro.
“It might very well be,” said AJ, “but we’re going to find these bastards that got into our system and at the very least, we’re going to put them under.”