(continued from a story that starts here).
Fred thought about what Samantha had just said for a moment, then asked, "Isn't that what we've been doing?"
Fred thought about what Samantha had just said for a moment, then asked, "Isn't that what we've been doing?"
"No," Samantha said, firmly. "We've been trying to find what we're missing, not what we're ignoring."
The group sat in ponderance for a minute. Alex rolled his head from side to side. Amanda pursed her lips and drummed polished fingernails against the wood-grain surface of the conference table. Fred, Eddie, and John stared at the collection of charts projected against the off-white walls. Samantha sat motionless, frozen and waiting for an answer from the room.
The group sat in ponderance for a minute. Alex rolled his head from side to side. Amanda pursed her lips and drummed polished fingernails against the wood-grain surface of the conference table. Fred, Eddie, and John stared at the collection of charts projected against the off-white walls. Samantha sat motionless, frozen and waiting for an answer from the room.
Eddie shook his head. "What's the difference?" he asked.
John answered. "We're ignoring things we've already considered. We're missing things we haven't thought about, yet."
"Problem is," said Eddie, "what do we do with this?"
"What do you mean?" asked Samantha.
"Well," said Eddie. "Maybe this is a misdirect. Why would he help us?"
"Maybe," said Alex. "Then again, maybe it's real. We haven't put together all the pieces. We don't really know what part 'Kramer' is playing."
Fred opened his mouth to add his two cents but Amanda broke into the conversation, first. "I think it's important that we investigate this," she said, "but we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket."
She stood and walked toward the illuminated wall. Her trim figure and ponytail cut a silhouette that looked like it belonged on a mudflap.
Using her finger as a pointer, she gestured toward some graphs. "John, I want you on the side-channel stuff. Alex, let's do another round of interviews to keep 'em all honest. Eddie, you work with Fred and Samantha on this new angle. Everybody good?"
The room collectively nodded its assent.
Her bright red lipstick gleamed in the lamplight as she burst into one of her now-famous smiles. "Great," she shouted. With a clap, she added, "Let's get moving!"
Everyone stood and headed for the door.
"Oh, and, Alex?" added Amanda.
"Yeah?"
"Can we get some more men on Fred and Samantha? She shouldn't have to decide whether or not she's going to call for help. She shouldn't have to call for help at all."
"Already on it."
"We need to question him."
Alex was already walking out of the room. Without looking back, he raised his hand and said "Yup!"
John and Eddie walked with Samantha and Fred. The hallway was clean but dimly-lit and painted a depressing shade of off-white. None of the offices had windows or names on the outside and all the doors were painted a very pale green.
When they reached the entrance to Eddie's temporary office, John turned and held out his fist. "Hey," he said while Eddie bumped John's knuckles with his out. "Pull me in if you need anything, okay?"
"Of course," smiled Eddie.
Eddie, Fred, and Samantha filed into Eddie's workspace. Eddie closed the door behind them and locked it. When he got to his desk, he tapped a button on a little dome, which began to emit a faint hiss. At the same time, green LEDs lit up on several dozen smaller domes affixed to the floor, walls, ceiling, and door.
"We're in a government building," said Fred.
Eddie chuckled. "Can't be too careful," he said.
Samantha seemed numb to the interaction.
"So, Samantha," said Fred. "What are we ignoring?"
"I don't know," she answered.
With a smirk, Fred gestured toward the little dome attached to the door of the small room. "Maybe the government wants the data?"
"No," Samantha sounded distant, almost absent. "That would be something we missed, not something we ignored."
Eddie licked his lips. "It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack if we try to think back to everything we ignored," he said. "We need a different strategy."
Samantha nodded. It was a slow nod, at first, but it picked up speed over the course of a few seconds. She looked, to Fred, like she was waking up. "Yeah," she said. "We need to start over."
Fred thought about that, for a second. "Start over and be careful about what we choose to ignore."
"Keep each other in check, brainstorm, search for assumptions..." said Samantha.
Eddie jerked his head. "Back to the drawing board," he said.
The three of them sat in that tiny, hot room, poring over meaningless details and asking pointless questions in a vain attempt to tease out that one thing they were ignoring but didn't know they had discounted...the thing that was so obvious, nobody put it to words.
As the night wore on, Samantha seemed to withdraw. Fred kept bringing her back into the conversation and, every time he did, she pulled away a few minutes, later. Eventually, he just let her go and worked with Eddie on the problem at hand.
"Server logs?" asked Fred.
"No," answered Eddie. "We didn't ignore those. John's looking at them to cross-reference with the side-channel stuff."
"Financials? Passwords?"
"No," said Eddie, "and no. Never ignored 'em. That's where everyone goes, first, right?"
"What if we're looking at what we're supposed to be looking at?" asked Samantha.
That froze both the men in their tracks. They both had forgotten she was there, she'd been silent so long.
"What?" asked Fred.
"What if we're looking where we're supposed to look?"
"You mean this is a red herring?"
"No. I mean, we're doing exactly what we should be doing. We're looking at server logs. We're sifting through the illegitimate activity. We're investigating the breaches. We're trying to figure out what we've lost and what's been compromised."
"Yeah?" prodded Fred.
"What if that was anticipated? What if it's expected?" said Samantha. Her voice was trailing off but Fred was able to make out "...desired?"
Eddie slapped the desk. The crack of his palm against the hardwood reverberated against undressed walls. "Of course!" his voice echoed and distorted in the little room, leaving it sounding like it was being delivered over a PA system in an old supermarket. "We're looking at the unusual activity."
Samantha smiled. "Maybe we should start looking at the usual activity."
"Why?" asked Fred.
"Maybe," said Eddie with one of his rare smiles, "it's not really so usual."
John answered. "We're ignoring things we've already considered. We're missing things we haven't thought about, yet."
"Problem is," said Eddie, "what do we do with this?"
"What do you mean?" asked Samantha.
"Well," said Eddie. "Maybe this is a misdirect. Why would he help us?"
"Maybe," said Alex. "Then again, maybe it's real. We haven't put together all the pieces. We don't really know what part 'Kramer' is playing."
Fred opened his mouth to add his two cents but Amanda broke into the conversation, first. "I think it's important that we investigate this," she said, "but we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket."
She stood and walked toward the illuminated wall. Her trim figure and ponytail cut a silhouette that looked like it belonged on a mudflap.
Using her finger as a pointer, she gestured toward some graphs. "John, I want you on the side-channel stuff. Alex, let's do another round of interviews to keep 'em all honest. Eddie, you work with Fred and Samantha on this new angle. Everybody good?"
The room collectively nodded its assent.
Her bright red lipstick gleamed in the lamplight as she burst into one of her now-famous smiles. "Great," she shouted. With a clap, she added, "Let's get moving!"
Everyone stood and headed for the door.
"Oh, and, Alex?" added Amanda.
"Yeah?"
"Can we get some more men on Fred and Samantha? She shouldn't have to decide whether or not she's going to call for help. She shouldn't have to call for help at all."
"Already on it."
"We need to question him."
Alex was already walking out of the room. Without looking back, he raised his hand and said "Yup!"
John and Eddie walked with Samantha and Fred. The hallway was clean but dimly-lit and painted a depressing shade of off-white. None of the offices had windows or names on the outside and all the doors were painted a very pale green.
When they reached the entrance to Eddie's temporary office, John turned and held out his fist. "Hey," he said while Eddie bumped John's knuckles with his out. "Pull me in if you need anything, okay?"
"Of course," smiled Eddie.
Eddie, Fred, and Samantha filed into Eddie's workspace. Eddie closed the door behind them and locked it. When he got to his desk, he tapped a button on a little dome, which began to emit a faint hiss. At the same time, green LEDs lit up on several dozen smaller domes affixed to the floor, walls, ceiling, and door.
"We're in a government building," said Fred.
Eddie chuckled. "Can't be too careful," he said.
Samantha seemed numb to the interaction.
"So, Samantha," said Fred. "What are we ignoring?"
"I don't know," she answered.
With a smirk, Fred gestured toward the little dome attached to the door of the small room. "Maybe the government wants the data?"
"No," Samantha sounded distant, almost absent. "That would be something we missed, not something we ignored."
Eddie licked his lips. "It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack if we try to think back to everything we ignored," he said. "We need a different strategy."
Samantha nodded. It was a slow nod, at first, but it picked up speed over the course of a few seconds. She looked, to Fred, like she was waking up. "Yeah," she said. "We need to start over."
Fred thought about that, for a second. "Start over and be careful about what we choose to ignore."
"Keep each other in check, brainstorm, search for assumptions..." said Samantha.
Eddie jerked his head. "Back to the drawing board," he said.
The three of them sat in that tiny, hot room, poring over meaningless details and asking pointless questions in a vain attempt to tease out that one thing they were ignoring but didn't know they had discounted...the thing that was so obvious, nobody put it to words.
As the night wore on, Samantha seemed to withdraw. Fred kept bringing her back into the conversation and, every time he did, she pulled away a few minutes, later. Eventually, he just let her go and worked with Eddie on the problem at hand.
"Server logs?" asked Fred.
"No," answered Eddie. "We didn't ignore those. John's looking at them to cross-reference with the side-channel stuff."
"Financials? Passwords?"
"No," said Eddie, "and no. Never ignored 'em. That's where everyone goes, first, right?"
"What if we're looking at what we're supposed to be looking at?" asked Samantha.
That froze both the men in their tracks. They both had forgotten she was there, she'd been silent so long.
"What?" asked Fred.
"What if we're looking where we're supposed to look?"
"You mean this is a red herring?"
"No. I mean, we're doing exactly what we should be doing. We're looking at server logs. We're sifting through the illegitimate activity. We're investigating the breaches. We're trying to figure out what we've lost and what's been compromised."
"Yeah?" prodded Fred.
"What if that was anticipated? What if it's expected?" said Samantha. Her voice was trailing off but Fred was able to make out "...desired?"
Eddie slapped the desk. The crack of his palm against the hardwood reverberated against undressed walls. "Of course!" his voice echoed and distorted in the little room, leaving it sounding like it was being delivered over a PA system in an old supermarket. "We're looking at the unusual activity."
Samantha smiled. "Maybe we should start looking at the usual activity."
"Why?" asked Fred.
"Maybe," said Eddie with one of his rare smiles, "it's not really so usual."
