Dirty Obsessions - The Lion and The Mouse

“It is.”

“And yesterday, Circuit and you kept saying Rainbow Hats. Is that what you call the people that work for you?”

I nodded. “Everyone at a computer is a top-notch hacker. In our world, there’s different colored hats that a hacker would wear. Most know of three main types—black hat, white hat, and grey hat. However, in here my people are a mixture of those colors and more.”

“I’ve never heard these terms before.”

“A grey hat hacker is what you see in the movies. Nerdy kid in his parent’s basement. Breaking into systems is his naughty hobby. He’s not good or bad. It’s like the hacker group Anonymous. They exploit systems only to make the information public and to bring to the limelight vast datasets of information that contain wrongdoings.”

“So, you’re not a grey hat?”

“Not at all.”

“But you started off that way?”

“I did.” I pointed to Naveen. “You would call Naveen a white hat hacker. He always did ethical hacks like testing existing internet infrastructures to research loopholes in the system. He creates algorithms to strengthen my system.”

“He’s security.” She bobbed her head. “So, Circuit is a black hat hacker?”

“Midnight black. He didn’t start that way, but eventually, he would break into systems to steal credit card information or even alter the public databases for the right price.” I laughed. “Once I saw him make a peanut butter sandwich and rob a bank at the same time. By the time, he finished the sandwich a million dollars sat in his account.”

She blinked. “Sweet Circuit?”

“Sweet.” I chuckled.

“What type of hacker are you?”

“I would say I’m a boss hacker in many ways. Similar to a criminal unit.” I tapped on my leg not sure how much I should say. “You know how a person begins at the bottom and finds himself on top? He no longer has to do what he did before. Now he tells others to do it.”

“And you’re the boss of them?”

“If they could have a boss, it would be me. However, the combat room is a place of free will.”

“You said there were more colors.”

“Yes.” I grinned. “I could spend hours on this. Red Hat hackers hate black hat hackers. Their sole objective is to destroy every black hat in the world. Blue hats are usually amateur guys with some revenge attacks in mind. Green Hats just like to learn how to do it, but never truly do any hacking.”

“Wow. This is a lot.”

“Script Kiddies are the kids of the hacking realm—newborns to our world. They’re still learning. Then, there’s Suicide Hackers that do massive detrimental hacking for a big cause and then kill themselves.”

She widened her eyes. “Like a suicide bomber?”

“Exactly.”

Circuit walked over. “And then there’s the type like me. I’m a Hacktivist. I break into systems and infrastructures to gain attention towards social causes.”

“No, you’re not.” I frowned at him. “You’re a black hatter through and through.”

“But at times I work on serious causes for humanity.”

My frown deepened. “What do you want?”

“I have an address for that special project you asked me to look into.” He handed me the sheet of paper.

I took my feet off the desk, grabbed the paper, and read the address. “Ava, I’ll be right back. If you need anything, Circuit will get it for you.”

Her voice held worry. “Okay. Please be safe.”

“Always.” I kissed her, quickly walked off, and gestured for several of my men to come to me. When they arrived, I spoke, “Gather as many as you can. No guns this time. Only knives. They also must be dressed impeccably. In order to get in, we must look the part.”

Anatoly stepped forward. “No guns?”

“None at all.”

He nodded.

“Hurry.” I handed him the paper. “Have them meet me at this address in an hour.”

Passing a worried Ava, I returned to my bedroom. I was glad she didn’t follow me in. I went into my closet and grabbed a special jacket—one that allowed me to carry a few knives and a big machete.

I put it on and left the bedroom.

Naveen met me at the door. “You need me?”

“Keep your eye on the Devil in Paris. I don’t trust him.”

“Due to the name?”

“Due to this month.”

He eyed me. “You’re wearing your special jacket.”

“I am.”

“Where are you going?”

“Club Pleasure.”

“Weren’t you just there?”

“Coincidentally, I was. Too bad this time won’t be about fun.” I thought about something. “Do me a favor and have several armed units outside of the club just in case.”

“Police or military?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as they’re shooting for me and will remain surrounding the place until I’m out.”

“Be careful.”

“And have a cleanup crew come in.”

“How big?”

“A massive group. There will be lots of blood.” I headed off, leaving my underground combat room and Ava behind.

Things were coming close to an end. I would make good on the deal with Hiro but possibly take the upper hand. I didn’t know who he was taking out of the Dragon’s building. I didn’t think it was his mother. The woman on the phone sounded like she was in a higher position. They were rescuing someone else. He’d mentioned women and children.