The Enigma Wraith

Wolfgang suggested, “Do we need to look a little closer at the new advanced computer arms race that China just took the lead in? We know that they have been pouring money into a program to build the fastest supercomputer in the world and they have made their goal. Their Nuclear Asymmetric Binary Operational Ballistics system, or NABOB, is now the fastest supercomputer among the sovereigns. However internally the Chinese refer to it as the IQ 5678 supercomputer. The United States, by all appearances, is taking a really critical look at their technological capabilities.

“However, unlike the other developed nations that are using these massive processing monoliths to predict climate change, or map the human genome, or correctly identify the sub-atomic components such as the God-Particle, the Chinese have kept their agenda a secret. We believe that their secret project has to do with what Jacob received from Su Lin via an email account used by Daisy.”

Quip stepped into the discussion as he added, “After we found Su Lin’s unauthorized hack into ICABOD, we also discovered she used it to then penetrate the cyber-wall around the Chinese’s NABOB. Jacob and I both suspect she went nosing around as we found some log files that were missed when she was cleaning that link into NABOB. She must have found some fairly interesting routines because of what she had built.

“We also believe Su Lin, or Master Po as she was known then, headed up the framework for NABOB with her former colleague Professor Lin at her Cyber-Warfare College in China. We presume that he took over much of that college and associated projects when Master Po was removed from the scene.”

Jacob nodded, then suggested, “The foundation of the π-R-Squared DP logic was apparently one of the more interesting things Su Lin created when she ran the Cyber–Warfare College. The logic is currently in use by NABOB. We had never seen anything like it before. I have also confirmed that it is what Su Lin used to build the kill-switch inside the grasshopper-loop code which we still have not been able to completely disable or repurpose. Annoying, but there it is.”

Petra then added, “All good points and some of the blanks are filling up though far slower than we’d like. We received that email from Daisy, which she was instructed by her professor to send to us after she returned to finish her studies at Texas A&M. We presume it is the last email from Su Lin on the subject we are investigating and the erratic behaviors we are finding.”

Looking at her tablet, Petra read the email contents.

“Dear all,

Thank you so much. I am sorry I am not with you, but I’m fairly sure I don’t want to face what you will have to resolve. I gave you all the tools you will need. Jacob, you are probably the best warrior at winning the contest. You will need what you have learned from our training sessions and the grasshopper-loop to combat the people who are pushing the NABOB system to build and launch genetically engineered vanishing code.

The premise is that if you had taken the amino acids found in the Earth’s earliest primordial soup of an ocean and mapped them to present day life, one could build their own synthetic type of life in a digital construct. In theory, with enough processing power one could build their own self-aware digital army to attack their enemies’ informational driven society. It should begin showing up soon, but I am not certain of the format.

Focus on the possibilities totally outside your normal frame of reference. There is little time to dwell on what could have been. I am dismayed at what I have seen my old students creating that will wreak havoc on whole societies. Please believe, as quickly as I could, I delivered all the raw tools you should need to win in the coming conflict. Take care, my young ones, as you have much to offer each other and the rest of humanity. I know you can correct this problem that I fear I started, my friends.

            With true affection, Su Lin”

Quip stated, “I agree that these are the pieces we need to use as our starting points. What is our best guess as to who we are up against in this race against the NABOB?”

Petra offered, “I can’t tell you exactly why, but some of this has a lot of Chairman Chang’s fingerprints on it. But his mode of operation has been mostly money laundering schemes. It could however be other sources from the Iranians or Russians which could have begun with cyber thievery. I want to see if I can get Julie back in here as she may have some insight as well.”

“Of course,” said Quip, as he grinned, “go ahead. We’ll just keep working and take notes for you girls.”

Petra and Julie returned a short time later, deep in conversation as they approached the gentlemen. Julie finished her thoughts to Petra quietly, and they both looked up as they joined the circle.

Flashing her megawatt smile, Julie apologized, “Sorry for my delay. I needed to finish a conversation with Juan before he went into a meeting. Petra brought me up to speed with the findings today from both her efforts and Jacob’s.

“I’d have to agree, it sounds a bit like Chang, but his teams have been doing identity and money laundering. This would be a new avenue if his team was involved with advanced programming, especially with Master Po out of the mix. How much background do we have on her second in charge, Professor Lin?”

Quip answered, “That is a very good question, Julie. I know that he was good and studied diligently under Master Po. How much progress he could have made with what Master Po left behind would be a guess. We know in doing her training of our team as Su Lin she did access some of their systems. Jacob believes that was why the email warning was important to her.”

Everyone nodded. Then, they launched into discussions about the pros and cons of the different groups currently doing advanced hacking, such as the Middle Eastern groups and others out of Korea and Japan. The rumors of the Chinese supercomputer and the team’s deep knowledge of the former cyber warfare college in China seemed to give credence to some of the suppositions.

Jacob then quickly summarized his current verifications of different elements from each of the code elements he had pieced together and the possible signature characteristics he’d assembled. Bottom line was they needed some additional first-hand information to supplement the information gathering from the posts and blogs. It seemed like some information really needed to be gathered first-hand from the sources, perhaps with some extensive interviews. They agreed to continue the discussion after working through the other promising examples that had been located.

The door to the study opened as Bowen announced the arrival of EZ.