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[smartzett]

Best Cyber Security Courses in UAE – Smartzett Academy

 Upskill your career with Cyber Security Courses in UAE at Smartzett Academy. Our training by industry experts includes ethical hacking, network security, and risk management, imparting you with coveted skills. Obtain industry-recognized certifications and practical experience to lead the digital security industry. Join now!

[sanjanabia]

Inside the Mind of a Hacker: How Ethical Hackers Outsmart Cybercriminals

In today’s digital age, the threat posed by cybercriminals is more pronounced than ever. As organizations increasingly rely on technology, the need for robust cyber security measures has become paramount. This is where ethical hackers step in, using their skills to protect systems from malicious attacks. For those interested in pursuing a career in this critical field, a cyber security course in Thane can provide the foundational knowledge and practical skills needed to succeed. Let’s delve into the mind of a hacker and explore how ethical hackers outsmart their adversaries.

Understanding the Hacker Mindset

To effectively combat cybercrime, it’s essential to understand the mindset of hackers. Cybercriminals are often driven by financial gain, political motivations, or even the thrill of the challenge. They continuously evolve their strategies, using sophisticated techniques to exploit vulnerabilities in systems. Ethical hackers, on the other hand, adopt a similar mindset but with the intention of safeguarding information rather than compromising it.

By enrolling in a cyber security course in Thane, aspiring ethical hackers can learn to think like cybercriminals. This includes understanding various hacking techniques, such as phishing, malware deployment, and social engineering. Equipped with this knowledge, they can develop more effective defense mechanisms against these threats.

The Role of Ethical Hackers

Ethical hackers play a crucial role in the realm of cyber security. Their primary objective is to identify and rectify vulnerabilities in systems before they can be exploited by malicious hackers. They employ a variety of tools and techniques to conduct penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security audits.

One of the significant benefits of taking a cyber security course in Thane is gaining hands-on experience with these tools. Students learn how to use software such as Wireshark for network analysis, Metasploit for penetration testing, and various programming languages for writing scripts and automating tasks. This practical knowledge is invaluable, as it allows ethical hackers to replicate the tactics used by cybercriminals and anticipate their next move.

Strategies Used by Ethical Hackers

Ethical hackers employ several strategies to outsmart cybercriminals. Here are a few key approaches they utilize:

Continuous Learning: The cyber security landscape is always changing, with new threats emerging regularly. Ethical hackers stay updated with the latest trends by participating in workshops, webinars, and, most importantly, taking comprehensive courses like a cyber security course in Thane. This continuous education allows them to adapt their strategies and tools to counteract evolving threats.

Red Team vs. Blue Team Exercises: In many training programs, ethical hackers participate in simulated attacks, often referred to as Red Team exercises. In these scenarios, they play the role of attackers, while a Blue Team defends against them. This collaborative environment helps them understand both sides of the equation, sharpening their skills in a practical context.

Threat Intelligence: Ethical hackers also rely on threat intelligence to predict potential attacks. By analyzing data from previous cyber incidents, they can identify patterns and trends, helping organizations prepare for future threats. Many cyber security courses in Thane cover this vital area, ensuring students can gather and analyze intelligence effectively.

Importance of Ethics in Hacking

A critical aspect of being an ethical hacker is adhering to a strict code of ethics. Unlike cybercriminals, ethical hackers operate with integrity and transparency. They obtain proper authorization before testing any system and report vulnerabilities to the appropriate stakeholders without exploiting them.

This ethical framework is often emphasized in cyber security courses in Thane. Students learn not only the technical skills needed for hacking but also the legal and ethical implications of their work. Understanding these principles is essential for fostering trust and accountability in the cyber security field.

Career Opportunities for Ethical Hackers

The demand for ethical hackers continues to grow as organizations prioritize cyber security. A cyber security course in Thane can open various career paths, including roles as penetration testers, security analysts, and security consultants. With businesses of all sizes seeking to bolster their defenses, skilled ethical hackers are becoming increasingly valuable assets.

In addition to traditional employment, ethical hackers can also explore freelance opportunities or consultancy roles, providing their expertise to organizations on a contract basis. The versatility of this career path makes it an attractive option for those passionate about technology and security.

Conclusion

As cyber threats continue to evolve, the importance of ethical hackers cannot be overstated. Their ability to think like cybercriminals while maintaining a commitment to ethical standards is what sets them apart. For those considering a career in this dynamic field, a cyber security course in Thane provides the essential skills and knowledge required to excel.

By understanding the hacker mindset, mastering essential tools, and adhering to ethical principles, ethical hackers play a pivotal role in safeguarding digital assets. As we look to the future, the demand for these professionals will only increase, making now the perfect time to embark on a journey into the world of cyber security.

[sunderwight]

Shen Yuan transmigrates into PIDW as a "vine demon" (read: hentai tentacle monster) and of course at first he is very much Not Pleased with this development.

Vine demons in PIDW basically only ever served one role in the story, and it was to sexily accost one of the protagonist's wives until the protagonist himself could come along and hack them to bits. Usually only after the wife in question had been sufficiently debauched, but not actually violated. This is not a role Shen Yuan wants to have for a variety of reasons, some of which are plainly obvious and others that have to do with his great big bag of repression. Man has more issues than a library with a robust magazine subscription service, after all.

But it is what it is, and hey, PIDW is also the land of weirdly intriguing monster world-building. Vine demons might have been one-note wonders in the novel itself, but turn them into fully-fledged creatures with three dimensional lives and they get a lot more interesting.

Like, turns out that a completely mature vine demon is sort of like the central hub of an entire plant network. Shen Yuan can root extensions of himself into suitable locations and these plants will gather energy for him and provide him with information about their surroundings, though mostly it has to do with the air and soil quality, the weather, and the presence of any large beasts that have been trampling them lately. Newer plants can only give extremely basic feedback, but more mature specimens can be imbued with demonic energy and reshaped to gain upgrades like eyesight, varying degrees of locomotion, defensive skills, and of course the notorious aphrodisiac and porn trope abilities.

Which do serve a purpose beyond fanservice, of course. The goal of a vine demon's network is to acquire as much energy as it can, transmute it in a form of energy preferable to the demon itself, and then convert that energy into power for its cultivation. Actual individual vine demons are not very common, they require a lot of energy to reproduce in a way that's not simply an extension of their existing selves, and their juvenile state is very vulnerable as it has to acquire energy on its own before it can begin to form its own networks. But if they can make it to adulthood they can cultivate into some of the most ancient and powerful demons around, and are almost impossible to destroy as they can regenerate themselves from any of their extensions, which can be spread out all across the realms.

So most of the vine demons being aggressively destroyed by the protagonist in PIDW were just extensions of one central, perverted vine demon. Good to know!

Shen Yuan is still not all that interested in playing the role of local hentai monster himself. He's a pretty powerful vine demon, and frankly he'd rather just reduce the rate of his power consumption by cutting back his extensive plant network a little (reduce upkeep costs) and focusing on doing stuff like devouring spiritual grasses or locating places with a lot of natural power and just soaking it up, while his main body enjoys the privileges of being a powerful demon and tours around the demon realm, cataloging all the interesting creatures he comes across.

The system, however, requires he facilitate the plot and help lead Luo Binghe to his great success. Shen Yuan is sure the protagonist doesn't need his help to seduce women, but the system is unreasonable, so with his newfound existence on the line he packs his little leaf bags and instructs some of his vine monster extensions from the human realm to head in the general direction of a great big (dangerously spicy) power nexus in the human realms, which would logically be the most powerful sect and the Tian Gong mountains where the Ling Xi caves are.

Right?

Well, slight miscalculation, as Shen Yuan's plant minions actually end up congregating at Bailu mountain, where Tianlang Jun is imprisoned. Some get caught and killed by patrolling Huan Hua cultivators, but a few others make it to where the former Junshang is chilling under several tons of rock. Shen Yuan only manages to figure out what's gone wrong just in time to stop his minions from uh, trying to eat Luo Binghe's father. Which. Would not be good! There's a very distraught snake monster involved also, and Shen Yuan feels kind of bad about the misunderstanding.

He heads to Cang Qiong himself while leaving his plants to just kind of, chill in the mountain and avoid getting slaughtered by cultivators for a bit, while he figures out what -- if anything -- he should do about that end of things. The Snake monster seems to be trying really hard to convince one of his plant minions to help harvest some mushroom seeds for it, though it's hard to tell since the plant minions tend to be singularly fixated on other plants in the area and it could just be that the mushrooms seem important because they're clearly high in spiritual energy. Frankly the minions aren't smart, there could be an entire string quartet in the cave as well and they wouldn't notice unless one of the musicians had tasty spiritual energy!

Shen Yuan debates the pros and cons of letting his minions eat mystery shrooms while he infiltrates Cang Qiong in person, carefully finding and slipping past all of the wards until he can finally get into the Ling Xi caves and plant a root there.

He's lucky. One of the reasons the vine demons would show up basically anywhere the author wanted some dubcon bondage to happen is because they're actually difficult to notice if they're not actively hunting. Shen Yuan's minions don't give off the telltale signs of demonic energy until they're in attack or defensive modes. Dormant, they can stick around and just slowly siphon the energy from the caves, and as long as he doesn't leaven like hundreds of them there, it's unlikely anyone will notice them. They'll just seem like regular plants, or maybe proto spirit grasses that the cultivators will want to leave alone for a while and watch develop, in case they turn into anything useful for grinding into a pill at some point.

Shen Yuan leaves plenty behind just in case, then hightails it back out of the danger zone and breathes a sigh of relief. For good measure he plants a few other extensions around the mountain range on his way out. Leaving plant minions in a location is like installing listening devices and cameras, he manages to get a spy network installed in a cultivation sect with a surprising lack of difficulty.

Wow! It's probably a good thing that vine demons are pretty rare and generally uninterested in politics or really anything other than their personal survival and growth. Turns out they are really over-powered.

Anyway, Shen Yuan leaves his new network to grow and flourish and subtly spy on the protagonist and the current main setting of the plot for him, and then decides what the heck, if random snake monster wants to eat some mushrooms, let's eat some mushrooms. He instructs his minions to get some spore-seed-things (one of them gets absolutely decimated by the ambient spiritual energy in the process) and give some to their new buddy, and then lets Vine Minion no.1209 eat the rest itself.

This proves... interesting.

Vine Minion no.1209 grows a whole new extension. This extension is a human-like body with Shen Yuan's own face and a huge amount of raw spiritual power. The body also has the full range of senses that a human body would. Shen Yuan can sink his consciousness into it to such a degree that he has to find a place to stash his actual main body and it safely go dormant while he does, because otherwise he can't actually split his focus well at all.

The end result feels a bit like teleporting. One moment he's a vine demon outside of Cang Qiong, the next he's staring through human eyes (wow he had almost not completely registered that his senses were EXTREMELY different since transmigrating) at a wide-eyed snake monster.

Through some flailing and awkward attempts at communicating, the snake monster leads Shen Yuan (now in awesome human-like cultivator body! Yes!!) back to Tianlang Jun, and between the three of them they figure out that the question on the table is, can Shen Yuan use his vine demon energy transmutation abilities to use the Sun-Dew Mushroom seeds to grow TLJ a body that's actually compatible with his demon nature, and free him from his prison?

Shen Yuan is sure that freeing TLJ isn't on the plot's agenda, but he's not enough of a bastard to just leave the guy there in the dark with a mountain on top of him either. The system doesn't try and stop him either. So he figures, fuck it, and uses the seeds and a sample of TLJ's blood to grow him a new body.

Good news -- this body successfully comes out demonic! Unlike Shen Yuan's shiny new human cultivator style body. He basically manages to spawn Tianlang Jun a vine demon body that has enough resonance with his Heavenly Demon nature for his blood parasites to transplant the soul/consciousness from his original body to the new one.

Bad news -- he gets infected with Tianlang Jun's parasites in the process, which means he has to help the former Junshang get his shit back in order on pain of, well, pain until his own network can isolate and kill all of the parasites, which is a slow process because they're over-powered immortal protagonist god bugs. Also, Tianlang Jun hijacking Shen Yuan's internal network basically lets him listen in on it also, which the guy apparently LOVES because he's been bored of his skull for the past decade just lying in the dark listening to his own body decompose.

Also, TLJ's new body looks roughly like a twelve-year-old demon kid, rather than a fully grown adult with a son (albeit unknown) of his own. And TLJ insists that Shen Yuan also make a new body for Zhuzhi Lang, since this is so incredible, which means Zhuzhi Lang also gets baked into a new preteen shape.

Shen Yuan has his hands full helping TLJ and ZZL escape Huan Hua Palace territory and then navigate the human world beyond it. Not that he himself knows all that much more about wandering random human settlements in the PIDW world. He decides to pose as a wandering cultivator with two young disciples, with the hardest part being hiding the demonic traits on TLJ and ZZL's new bodies.

Well, at least he's beaten the possibility of more heavenly demons turning up where they're not supposed to. Despite TLJ and ZZL retaining some of their original demonic traits, they're both vine demons now, which might still put them in the running of "incredibly over-powered" beings in PIDW, but is definitely a tier below where they were before. Plus, having helpers is kind of handy for when he needs to divert his attention back to his full vine demon network, as the human body tends to take so much focus that it's an on-or-off situation. Either he's piloting his cultivatorsona around, or he's doing the demonic plant network thing, but he can't do both.

Which means that his not-so-young "disciples" have to watch his catatonic body for him while he's busy elsewhere. At least they seem pretty decent about it, especially Zhuzhi Lang, who diligently stands guard (TLJ on the other hand tends to let his consciousness follow Shen Yuan along so he can spy on Cang Qiong).

Shen Yuan debates telling TLJ about Luo Binghe. But he doesn't know how he would explain it, or how it might impact that plot, so instead he holds off. Tianlang Jun and Zhuzhi Lang seem to be under the impression that he deliberately came to help them, and that he's got some grand scheme to help bring Huan Hua Palace down as well, and he's not sure what they'll do if they learn otherwise. They are very (understandably) pissed at Huan Hua. But Binghe needs it for the plot!

Anyway. His plant minions aren't completely idle in Cang Qiong territory. Even when he's not paying attention to them, they're gathering energy and keeping sort of internal records about changes in their environment (admittedly, this doesn't always tell him much about what the people are doing, but they do at least notice when people pass by and can imprint snippets of sound, so they're not a total bust as spies). When Shen Yuan is paying attention, which is generally at night (he doesn't need much sleep), he can observe a lot of the goings-on himself and move his minions around to better locations if possible/needed.

Most of his minions are on Qiong Ding and Qing Jing, of course. He avoids Qian Cao as having the cultivators most likely to recognize seemingly-innocuous plants as something Else, but over time he spreads a few more seeds out to the other peaks. Partly to keep his bases covered, partly so he can distract Tianlang Jun with shit like the pangolins on Wan Jian or listening in as the maiden flowers of Xian Shu talk about yellow books like it's their life's calling.

Of course, Shen Yuan interferes with Luo Binghe as well. He can't help it. The poor protagonist bun doesn't deserve to be so miserable! There's not much Shen Yuan can do, but he gets away with what he thinks are subtle acts of assistance. Tripping some bullies on a vine here and there. Smuggling fruits and healing herbs into the woodshed. Providing a little boost of spiritual energy here or there, to help with Binghe's struggling cultivation and subsequent pain and injuries. Using some vines to untangle a particular lost pendant from some branches, and ferry it back to the woodshed as well, being careful not to wake its rightful owner as they deposit it into his palm. Catching a few rampaging demons before they can attack young disciples. That sort of thing.

Shen Yuan even finds himself intervening in the situation of Liu Qingge's qi deviation again, restraining the peak lord with the network of now-quite-robust plants in the Ling Xi caves, binding him tight and siphoning off his disrupted energy. Shen Yuan is trying very hard not to think about how much he's playing the roll of a PIDW-typical vine demon as he snakes a tendril down Liu Qingge's throat, but it's to feed him qi! To fix the deviation! He's not sucking him dry, and credit where it's due, feeding energy to prospective victims does not come naturally to vine demons and he has to figure the whole thing out on the spot!

And then he has to do basically the same thing to Shen Qingqiu, who is also having a qi deviation! What the fuck!

Unfortunately, saving two Peak Lords is conspicuous -- despite the chaos and the chance that neither of them should remember much of what happened, figures convenient amnesia tropes would fail Shen Yuan right when he needed them. The peak lords opt to misremember the incident as both of them being attacked by the vines, that's gratitude for you, and figure this is all part of the elaborate demon invasion situation and burn out his entire Ling Xi network.

Shen Yuan gets the fright of his life when Luo Binghe even manages to track down his actual main body just outside of Cang Qiong, with the help of Meng Mo's advice. Luckily the young protagonist just seems curious, and the Shen Yuan's embarrassment, reveals that he had in fact noticed the random varieties of plant life that seemed determined to lend him a hand. He even thinks Shen Yuan is some type of benevolent helper! Well, that's better than "horrible pervert plant to be killed on sight", so he'll take it!

Also, it turns out that there seems to be... another vine demon infiltrating Cang Qiong? An Ding peak, specifically. Shen Yuan would suspect a dropped plot involving Shang Qinghua, notorious traitor to the demons, but he gets a vibe off of the system notifications when his plant minions make contact with Other Vine Demon's minions. Which at first seem determined to run him out of dodge, before they seem to also decide the better of it and back off.

Tentative ceasefire and overtures of contact are made. Shen Yuan discovers that there's another transmigrator in a similar position -- died then woke up as a PIDW vine demon, tasked with keeping the general shape of the plot on track, etc. Except this guy's base of operations remains in the demon realms, and he's been keeping the future Mobei Jun from biting the dust, patching over other plotholes on that end of the equation, and spying on the major sects for the demons in collusion with Shang Qinghua and some non-literal plants in Huan Hua.

Shen Yuan starts to hatch a plan. According to Other Vine Demon Guy, part of his system-mandated quests involve arranging the Immortal Alliance conference. Shen Yuan also has to be present for that, in order to ensure that Luo Binghe makes it to the Abyss without dying on the way, and that other vital characters like Shen Qingqiu and presumably Binghe's wives survive the dangerous scenario as well. It seems the transmigrators are being used to patch over situations from the novel that simply had such terrible survival odds, there's no way they'd proceed without outside assistance.

But this means Shen Yuan can meet up with Other Vine Demon at the conference, they can work together to meet the system's demands, and then -- hopefully -- Shen Yuan can get Other Vine Demon to take Zhuzhi Lang and Tianlang Jun to the demon realms. Fact is, the more time passes the more clear it becomes that they need to get out of range of human cultivators, as TLJ and ZZL figure out how to master their new styles of demonic cultivation. Plus Shen Yuan is almost rid of TLJ's last remaining blood parasites, and as TLJ can no longer make new ones, this means he'll finally be free to shake his hangers-on loose and focus on getting things ready for Luo Binghe's return from the Abyss.

The IAC plot goes down about as smoothly as possible. With Other Vine Demon's help, Shen Yuan sets up a bunch of plant minions in Jue Di Gorge, and when the abyssal rift starts opening he's even able to run interference and keep too many of the young competitors from getting killed outright. He follows Luo Binghe's group, vines emerging from the shadows to assist, and even ends up using his main body to prevent several creatures from killing vital characters until the Black Moon Python-Rhino turns up to break Luo Binghe's seal.

It's even a good opportunity for him to feed by devouring a lot of the attacking demons!

Of course, there are downsides. Shen Qingqiu manages to sneak up on and slice the shit out of his main body, which is really quite painful. Tianlang Jun and Zhuzhi Lang don't stay behind to watch his catatonic cultivator body and instead get involved, which is dangerous and ill-advised. Luo Binghe absolutely loses his shit in a way he didn't even manage to during PIDW, acting weirdly jealous of his father and cousin at first, then going fully feral and just straight up trying to murder Shen Qingqiu until Shen Qingqiu knocks him and Shen Yuan's main body into the Abyss. Asshole. On top of it, Shen Yuan's unattended human cultivatorsona gets captured by Huan Hua palace investigators who declare him a suspicious person in light of the whole debacle and throw him into the water prison!

So that's. All very bad.

But the system seems happy. Shen Yuan is tasked, in the Abyss, with helping Luo Binghe get to Xin Mo in one piece (well, one frequently regenerated piece), which he supposes is more convenient than just hoping the heavenly demon blood and Meng Mo will be enough assistance. Other Vine Demon is able to converse with one of Shen Yuan's remaining plant minions in Jue Di Gorge for long enough to establish that he'll look after TLJ and ZZL, before cultivators show up and Shen Yuan's minion gets chopped up. Shen Yuan's human body seems to get mostly forgotten in Huan Hua's water prison, but that's fine, he wouldn't be able to pay it that much attention while he's in the Abyss anyway. He just puts it into a meditative state and lets it focus on cultivating automatically.

A lot of his plant minions in the human realm got wiped out, leaving most of the remaining ones in various villages that he and TLJ and ZZL visited on their travels (good backups, but nothing fancy) and some on Qing Jing peak. Shen Yuan focuses on regrowing the ones on Qing Jing so that if need be, he can regenerate his main body there, and reunite with Luo Binghe in a place he's certain the protagonist will return to.

Although after they're out of the Abyss, Binghe might not want to ever see him again, given the crazy stuff that's been going on! Please, it's not Shen Yuan's fault he's a walking smut trope! Every time he has to intervene, it's like something out of a cheesy hentai. The protagonist is injured and needs energy? Here, have some vines invading your orifices! Protagonist has fallen off of a cliff? Lets entangle him in the most erotic post possible to save him! Nights are cold and dangerous? Nothing says sharing energy with your mentor figure like letting him practice tentacle-shibari on you! Vicious succubi are not taking 'no' for an answer? Guess Shen Yuan will just have to string them up and drink them dry!

It's so awkward, it even seems to be throwing Luo Binghe off of his harem-building game, as the protagonist turns down every woman he had picked up in PIDW. At least the system doesn't dock Shen Yuan points for that. Well, the Abyss wives were the worst of the bunch anyway, they won't be missed. Though, Binghe should really be careful about how he explains that Shen Yuan's vines are good at helping him regulate his spiritual energy -- declarations about "his master's tendrils" and his comments about how Shen Yuan can used whatever orifice he'd like could really be taken the wrong way!

It's even going to Shen Yuan's own head a bit. The Abyss must be getting to him, dragging him into a more demonic mindset. How else to explain the way he'll look at a trussed-up Binghe and catch himself licking his lips???

The sooner they're out, the sooner everything can go back to normal and they can forget this whole weird ordeal!

[romerona]

Ethera Operation!!

You're the government’s best hacker, but that doesn’t mean you were prepared to be thrown into a fighter jet.

Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Awkward!Hacker! FemReader

Part I

This was never supposed to happen. Your role in this operation was simple—deliver the program, ensure it reached the right hands, and let the professionals handle the breaching.

And then, of course, reality decided to light that plan on fire.

The program—codenamed Ethera—was yours. You built it from scratch with encryption so advanced that even the most elite cyber operatives couldn’t crack it without your input. A next-generation adaptive, self-learning decryption software, an intrusion system designed to override and manipulate high-security military networks, Ethera was intended to be both a weapon and a shield, capable of infiltrating enemy systems while protecting your own from counterattacks in real-time. A ghost in the machine. A digital predator. A weapon in the form of pure code. If it fell into the wrong hands, it could disable fleets, and ground aircraft, and turn classified intelligence into an open book. Governments would kill for it. Nations could fall because of it.

Not that you ever meant to, of course. It started as a little experimental security measure program, something to protect high-level data from cyberattacks, not become the ultimate hacking tool. But innovation has a funny way of attracting the wrong kind of attention, and before you knew it, Ethera had become one, if not the most classified, high-risk program in modern times. Tier One asset or so the Secret Service called it.

It was too powerful, too dangerous—so secret that only a select few even knew of its existence, and even fewer could comprehend how it worked.

And therein lay the problem. You were the only person who could properly operate it.

Which was so unfair.

Because it wasn’t supposed to be your problem. You were just the creator, the brain behind the code, the one who spent way too many sleepless nights debugging this monstrosity. Your job was supposed to end at development. But no. Now, because of some bureaucratic nonsense and the fact that no one else could run it without accidentally bricking an entire system, you had been promoted—scratch that, forcibly conscripted—into field duty.

And your mission? To install it in an enemy satellite.

A literal, orbiting, high-security, military-grade satellite, may you add.

God. Why? Why was your country always at war with others? Why couldn’t world leaders just, you know, go to therapy like normal people? Why did everything have to escalate to international cyber warfare?

Which is how you ended up here.

At Top Gun. The last place in the world you wanted to be.

You weren’t built for this. You thrive in sipping coffee in a cosy little office and handling cyber threats from a safe, grounded location. You weren’t meant to be standing in the halls of an elite fighter pilot training program, surrounded by the best aviators in the world—people who thought breaking the sound barrier was a casual Wednesday.

It wasn’t the high-tech cyberwarfare department of the Pentagon, nor some dimly lit black ops facility where hackers in hoodies clacked away at keyboards. No. It was Top Gun. A place where pilots use G-forces like a personal amusement park ride.

You weren’t a soldier, you weren’t a spy, you got queasy in elevators, you got dizzy when you stood too fast, hell, you weren’t even good at keeping your phone screen from cracking.

... And now you were sweating.

You swallowed hard as Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates led you through the halls of the naval base, your heels clacking on the polished floors as you wiped your forehead. You're nervous, too damn nervous and this damned weather did not help.

"Relax, Miss," Warlock muttered in that calm, authoritative way of his. "They're just pilots."

Just pilots.

Right. And a nuclear warhead was just a firework.

And now, somehow, you were supposed to explain—loosely explain, because God help you, the full details were above even their clearance level—how Ethera, your elegant, lethal, unstoppable digital masterpiece, was about to be injected into an enemy satellite as part of a classified mission.

This was going to be a disaster.

You had barely made it through the doors of the briefing room when you felt it—every single eye in the room locking onto you.

It wasn’t just the number of them that got you, it was the intensity. These were Top Gun pilots, the best of the best, and they radiated the kind of confidence you could only dream of having. Meanwhile, you felt like a stray kitten wandering into a lion’s den.

Your hands tightened around the tablet clutched to your chest. It was your lifeline, holding every critical detail of Ethera, the program that had dragged you into this utterly ridiculous situation. If you could’ve melted into the walls, you absolutely would have. But there was no escaping this.

You just had to keep it together long enough to survive this briefing.

So, you inhaled deeply, squared your shoulders, and forced your heels forward, trying to project confidence—chin up, back straight, eyes locked onto Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, who you’d been introduced to earlier that day.

And then, of course, you dropped the damn tablet.

Not a graceful drop. Not the kind of gentle slip where you could scoop it back up and act like nothing happened. No, this was a full-on, physics-defying fumble. The tablet flipped out of your arms, ricocheted off your knee, and skidded across the floor to the feet of one of the pilots.

Silence.

Pure, excruciating silence.

You didn’t even have the nerve to look up right away, too busy contemplating whether it was physically possible to disintegrate on command. But when you finally did glance up—because, you know, social convention demanded it—you were met with a sight that somehow made this entire disaster worse.

Because the person crouching down to pick up your poor, abused tablet was freaking hot.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with a head of golden curls that practically begged to be tousled by the wind, and, oh, yeah—a moustache that somehow worked way too well on him.

He turned the tablet over in his hands, inspecting it with an amused little smirk before handing it over to you. "You, uh… need this?"

Oh, great. His voice is hot too.

You grabbed it back, praying he couldn't see how your hands were shaking. “Nope. Just thought I’d test gravity real quick.”

A few chuckles rippled through the room, and his smirk deepened like he was enjoying this way too much. You, on the other hand, wanted to launch yourself into the sun.

With what little dignity you had left, you forced a quick, tight-lipped smile at him before turning on your heel and continuing forward, clutching your tablet like it was a life raft in the middle of the worst social shipwreck imaginable.

At the front of the room, Vice Admiral Beau Cyclone Simpson stood with the kind of posture that said he had zero time for nonsense, waiting for the room to settle. You barely had time to take a deep breath before his voice cut through the air.

“Alright, listen up.” His tone was crisp, commanding, and impossible to ignore. “This is Dr Y/N L/N. Everything she is about to tell you is highly classified. What you hear in this briefing does not leave this room. Understood?”

A chorus of nods. "Yes, sir."

You barely resisted the urge to physically cringe as every pilot in the room turned to stare at you—some with confusion, others with barely concealed amusement, and a few with the sharp assessing glances of people who had no clue what they were supposed to do with you.

You cleared your throat, squared your shoulders, and did your best to channel even an ounce of the confidence you usually had when you were coding at 3 AM in a secure, pilot-free lab—where the only judgment you faced was from coffee cups and the occasional system error.

As you reached the podium, you forced what you hoped was a composed smile. “Uh… hi, nice to meet you all.”

Solid. Real professional.

You glanced up just long enough to take in the mix of expressions in the room—some mildly interested, some unreadable, and one particular moustached pilot who still had the faintest trace of amusement on his face.

Nope. Not looking at him.

You exhaled slowly, centering yourself. Stay focused. Stay professional. You weren’t just here because of Ethera—you were Ethera. The only one who truly understood it. The only one who could execute this mission.

With another tap on your tablet, the slide shifted to a blacked-out, redacted briefing—only the necessary information was visible. A sleek 3D-rendered model of the enemy satellite appeared on the screen, rotating slowly. Most of its details were blurred or omitted entirely.

“This is Blackstar, a highly classified enemy satellite that has been operating in a low-Earth orbit over restricted airspace.” Your voice remained even, and steady, but the weight of what you were revealing sent a shiver down your spine. “Its existence has remained off the radar—literally and figuratively—until recently, when intelligence confirmed that it has been intercepting our encrypted communications, rerouting information, altering intelligence, and in some cases—fabricating entire communications.”

Someone exhaled sharply. Another shifted in their seat.

“So they’re feeding us bad intel?” one of them with big glasses and blonde hair asked, voice sceptical but sharp.

“That’s the theory,” you confirmed. “And given how quickly our ops have been compromised recently, it’s working.”

You tapped again, shifting to the next slide. The silent infiltration diagram appeared—an intricate web of glowing red lines showing Etherea’s integration process, slowly wrapping around the satellite’s systems like a virus embedding itself into a host.

“This is where Ethera comes in,” you said, shifting to a slide that displayed a cascading string of code, flickering across the screen. “Unlike traditional cyberweapons, Ethera doesn’t just break into a system. It integrates—restructuring security protocols as if it was always meant to be there. It’s undetectable, untraceable, and once inside, it grants us complete control of the Blackstar and won’t even register it as a breach.”

“So we’re not just hacking it," The only female pilot of the team said, arms crossed as she studied the data. “We’re hijacking it.”

“Exactly,” You nodded with a grin.

You switched to the next slide—a detailed radar map displaying the satellite’s location over international waters.

“This is the target area,” you continued after a deep breath. “It’s flying low-altitude reconnaissance patterns, which means it’s using ground relays for some of its communication. That gives us a small window to infiltrate and shut it down.”

The next slide appeared—a pair of unidentified fighter aircraft, patrolling the vicinity.

“And this is the problem,” you said grimly. “This satellite isn’t unguarded.”

A murmur rippled through the room as the pilots took in the fifth-generation stealth fighters displayed on the screen.

“We don’t know who they belong to,” you admitted. “What we do know is that they’re operating with highly classified tech—possibly experimental—and have been seen running defence patterns around the satellite’s flight path.”

Cyclone stepped forward then, arms crossed, his voice sharp and authoritative. “Which means your job is twofold. You will escort Dr L/N’s aircraft to the infiltration zone, ensuring Ethera is successfully deployed. If we are engaged, your priority remains protecting the package and ensuring a safe return.”

Oh, fantastic, you could not only feel your heartbeat in your toes, you were now officially the package.

You cleared your throat, tapping the screen again. Ethera’s interface expanded, displaying a cascade of sleek code.

“Once I’m in range,” you continued, “Ethera will lock onto the satellite’s frequency and begin infiltration. From that point, it’ll take approximately fifty-eight seconds to bypass security and assume control."

Silence settled over the room like a thick cloud, the weight of their stares pressing down on you. You could feel them analyzing, calculating, probably questioning who in their right mind thought putting you—a hacker, a tech specialist, someone whose idea of adrenaline was passing cars on the highway—into a fighter jet was a good idea.

Finally, one of the pilots—tall, broad-shouldered, blonde, and very clearly one of the cocky ones—tilted his head, arms crossed over his chest in a way that screamed too much confidence.

“So, let me get this straight.” His voice was smooth, and confident, with just the right amount of teasing. “You, Doctor—our very classified, very important tech specialist—have to be in the air, in a plane, during a mission that has a high probability of turning into a dogfight… just so you can press a button?”

Your stomach twisted at the mention of being airborne.

“Well…” You gulped, very much aware of how absolutely insane this sounded when put like that. “It’s… more than just that, but, yeah, essentially.”

A slow grin spread across his face, far too entertained by your predicament.

“Oh,” he drawled, “this is gonna be fun.”

Before you could fully process how much you already hated this, Cyclone—who had been watching the exchange with his signature unamused glare—stepped forward, cutting through the tension with his sharp, no-nonsense voice.

“This is a classified operation,” he stated, sharp and authoritative. “Not a joyride.”

The blonde’s smirk faded slightly as he straightened, and the rest of the pilots quickly fell in line.

Silence lingered for a moment longer before Vice Admiral Beau Cyclone Simpson let out a slow breath and straightened. His sharp gaze swept over the room before he nodded once.

“All right. That’s enough.” His tone was firm, the kind that left no room for argument. “We’ve got work to do. The mission will take place in a few weeks' time, once we’ve run full assessments, completed necessary preparations, and designated a lead for this operation.”

There was a slight shift in the room. Some of the pilots exchanged glances, the weight of the upcoming mission finally settling in. Others, mainly the cocky ones, looked as though they were already imagining themselves in the cockpit.

“Dismissed,” Cyclone finished.

The pilots stood, murmuring amongst themselves as they filed out of the room, the blonde one still wearing a smug grin as he passed you making you frown and turn away, your gaze then briefly met the eyes of the moustached pilot.

You hadn’t meant to look, but the moment your eyes connected, something flickered in his expression. Amusement? Curiosity? You weren’t sure, and frankly, you didn’t want to know.

So you did the only logical thing and immediately looked away and turned to gather your things. You needed to get out of here, to find some space to breathe before your brain short-circuited from stress—

“Doctor, Stay for a moment.”

You tightened your grip on your tablet and turned back to Cyclone, who was watching you with that unreadable, vaguely disapproving expression that all high-ranking officers seemed to have perfected. “Uh… yes, sir?”

Once the last pilot was out the door, Cyclone exhaled sharply and crossed his arms.

“You realize,” he said, “that you’re going to have to actually fly, correct?”

You swallowed. “I—well, technically, I’ll just be a passenger.”

His stare didn’t waver.

“Doctor,” he said, tone flat, “I’ve read your file. I know you requested to be driven here instead of taking a military transport plane. You also took a ferry across the bay instead of a helicopter. And I know that you chose to work remotely for three years to avoid getting on a plane.”

You felt heat rise to your cheeks. “That… could mean anything.”

“It means you do not like flying, am I correct?”

Your fingers tightened around the tablet as you tried to find a way—any way—out of this. “Sir, with all due respect, I don’t need to fly the plane. I just need to be in it long enough to deploy Ethera—”

Cyclone cut you off with a sharp look. “And what happens if something goes wrong, Doctor? If the aircraft takes damage? If you have to eject mid-flight? If you lose comms and have to rely on emergency protocols?”

You swallowed hard, your stomach twisting at the very thought of ejecting from a jet.

Cyclone sighed, rubbing his temple as if this entire conversation was giving him a migraine. “We cannot afford to have you panicking mid-mission. If this is going to work, you need to be prepared. That’s why, starting next week you will train with the pilots on aerial procedures and undergoing mandatory training in our flight simulation program.”

Your stomach dropped. “I—wait, what? That’s not necessary—”

“It’s absolutely necessary,” Cyclone cut in, his tone sharp. “If you can’t handle a simulated flight, you become a liability—not just to yourself, but to the pilots escorting you. And in case I need to remind you, Doctor, this mission is classified at the highest level. If you panic mid-air, it won’t just be your life at risk. It’ll be theirs. And it’ll be national security at stake.”

You inhaled sharply. No pressure. None at all.

Cyclone watched you for a moment before speaking again, his tone slightly softer but still firm. “You’re the only one who can do this, Doctor. That means you need to be ready.”

You exhaled slowly, pressing your lips together before nodding stiffly. “Understood, sir.”

Cyclone gave a small nod of approval. “Good. Dismissed.”

You turned and walked out, shoulders tense, fully aware that in three days' time, you were going to be strapped into a high-speed, fighter jet. And knowing your luck?

You were definitely going to puke.

Part 2???

[mostlysignssomeportents]

China hacked Verizon, AT&T and Lumen using the FBI’s backdoor

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

State-affiliated Chinese hackers penetrated AT&T, Verizon, Lumen and others; they entered their networks and spent months intercepting US traffic – from individuals, firms, government officials, etc – and they did it all without having to exploit any code vulnerabilities. Instead, they used the back door that the FBI requires every carrier to furnish:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/u-s-wiretap-systems-targeted-in-china-linked-hack-327fc63b?st=C5ywbp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

In 1994, Bill Clinton signed CALEA into law. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires every US telecommunications network to be designed around facilitating access to law-enforcement wiretaps. Prior to CALEA, telecoms operators were often at pains to design their networks to resist infiltration and interception. Even if a telco didn't go that far, they were at the very least indifferent to the needs of law enforcement, and attuned instead to building efficient, robust networks.

Predictably, CALEA met stiff opposition from powerful telecoms companies as it worked its way through Congress, but the Clinton administration bought them off with hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to acquire wiretap-facilitation technologies. Immediately, a new industry sprang into being; companies that promised to help the carriers hack themselves, punching back doors into their networks. The pioneers of this dirty business were overwhelmingly founded by ex-Israeli signals intelligence personnel, though they often poached senior American military and intelligence officials to serve as the face of their operations and liase with their former colleagues in law enforcement and intelligence.

Telcos weren't the only opponents of CALEA, of course. Security experts – those who weren't hoping to cash in on government pork, anyways – warned that there was no way to make a back door that was only useful to the "good guys" but would keep the "bad guys" out.

These experts were – then as now – dismissed as neurotic worriers who simultaneously failed to understand the need to facilitate mass surveillance in order to keep the nation safe, and who lacked appropriate faith in American ingenuity. If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can build a security system that selectively fails when a cop needs it to, but stands up to every crook, bully, corporate snoop and foreign government. In other words: "We have faith in you! NERD HARDER!"

NERD HARDER! has been the answer ever since CALEA – and related Clinton-era initiatives, like the failed Clipper Chip program, which would have put a spy chip in every computer, and, eventually, every phone and gadget:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip

America may have invented NERD HARDER! but plenty of other countries have taken up the cause. The all-time champion is former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who, when informed that the laws of mathematics dictate that it is impossible to make an encryption scheme that only protects good secrets and not bad ones, replied, "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia":

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-laws-of-australia-will-trump-the-laws-of-mathematics-turnbull/

CALEA forced a redesign of the foundational, physical layer of the internet. Thankfully, encryption at the protocol layer – in the programs we use – partially counters this deliberately introduced brittleness in the security of all our communications. CALEA can be used to intercept your communications, but mostly what an attacker gets is "metadata" ("so-and-so sent a message of X bytes to such and such") because the data is scrambled and they can't unscramble it, because cryptography actually works, unlike back doors. Of course, that's why governments in the EU, the US, the UK and all over the world are still trying to ban working encryption, insisting that the back doors they'll install will only let the good guys in:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/05/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography/

Any back door can be exploited by your adversaries. The Chinese sponsored hacking group know as Salt Typhoon intercepted the communications of hundreds of millions of American residents, businesses, and institutions. From that position, they could do NSA-style metadata-analysis, malware injection, and interception of unencrypted traffic. And they didn't have to hack anything, because the US government insists that all networking gear ship pre-hacked so that cops can get into it.

This isn't even the first time that CALEA back doors have been exploited by a hostile foreign power as a matter of geopolitical skullduggery. In 2004-2005, Greece's telecommunications were under mass surveillance by US spy agencies who wiretapped Greek officials, all the way up to the Prime Minister, in order to mess with the Greek Olympic bid:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_wiretapping_case_2004%E2%80%9305

This is a wild story in so many ways. For one thing, CALEA isn't law in Greece! You can totally sell working, secure networking gear in Greece, and in many other countries around the world where they have not passed a stupid CALEA-style law. However the US telecoms market is so fucking huge that all the manufacturers build CALEA back doors into their gear, no matter where it's destined for. So the US has effectively exported this deliberate insecurity to the whole planet – and used it to screw around with Olympic bids, the most penny-ante bullshit imaginable.

Now Chinese-sponsored hackers with cool names like "Salt Typhoon" are traipsing around inside US telecoms infrastructure, using the back doors the FBI insisted would be safe.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/07/foreseeable-outcomes/#calea

Image: Kris Duda, modified https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahorcado/5433669707/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[chaotic-minds-think-alike]

What is Pandemonium?

I like to think Pandemonium is a shapeshifting Angler-esq entity that becomes what it consumes, a literal take on the phrase "you are what you eat". That doesn't mean it IS an angler, nor is it really related to the anomaly, but something sort of like convergent evolution if you really want to apply normal biology to these things.

Morph Descriptions:

Morph 1 - "Angler Mimic"

Entity feeds off deep sea life, has a much slower metabolism and feeds less often, passive state is both fueled by less need for food and lack of eyesight, smoky aura is made of decayed cells to mimic the shape of the Angler entity.

Morph 2 - "Pipsqueak"

Entity earns the name pipsqueak because of its size compared to the Angler and its variants, feeding off humans largely changes it's appearance as it's body begins to make human cells, the entity's metabolism steadily raises as it's presented with a more nutrient food source.

Morph 3 - "Pandemonium"

Because of the entity's new metabolism the lack of food causes it to enter it's decayed state rapidly, screaming sounds originate from man made material ingested and scraping on the floor, lacks muscles to articulate itself properly and doesn't care what it ingests.

Both the entity's eyes and the eyes within the entity's mouth originate from consumed personnel. Urbanshade employees and prisoners dawning the company's symbol belong to the devil as stated in the lore, but because they've been consumed by Pandemonium, they now exist in a state of limbo within the entity, appearing as several eyes.

At the bottom isnt really a good timeline but a sequence of events leading up to the game:

Anomaly Discovery: The anomaly was discovered during the excavation of the hadal blacksite. Because the anomaly looked and acted like a normal fish, it raised no concerns to Urbanshade and was left alone.

Anomaly Sneaking Into The Blacksite: During the construction of the Hadal Blacksite, the anomaly (morph 1) sneaks into the outskirts to feed, consuming several personnel over a short period.

Anomaly Capture: The anomaly, now referred to Z-367, is discovered to be eating personnel (morph 2) and is promptly captured after raising suspicions.

Experimentation Period: Z-367 is experimented on by Urbanshade. The entity feeds off of organic matter, preferably flesh, to build and maintain its form just like any other animal; however, it is always aging at a fast pace and can never truly die. Attempts at dispatching Z-367 only stun the entity for varied periods of time. During the experimentation period, one thing of great importance is Z-367's erratic and desperate behavior when starved (morph 3), which is how it earned it's nickname "Pandemonium".

Containment Period: During this time, Z-367 remained in containment with regular maintenance and feeding periods to keep the entity docile and under control (morph 2).

Lockdown: Some hours into the lockdown after Painter is hacked into the blacksite's network does he halt Z-367's regular feedings to provoke the entity into a panicked state. Over the course of a couple hours, Z-367 decays rapidly and begins to tear at it's containment cell, breaking out on it's own.

Today: Z-367 almost eats the expendables as fast as they pour into the blacksite but it's not enough to bring the entity into a passive state.

[uneatenclient]

so in network effect mb is pretty insistent that art got got via the comms

and it seemed... not out of place, but oddly specific and persistent with this one possible cause of what happened to art. and then i realized — as ratthi so helpfully pointed out — that the last time something catastrophic had happened to mb, it had been a comm attack

it had lost its friend to something that was probably the thing that had almost killed it before, and then it'd gotten its friend back. of course it's gonna harp on this to try and keep art safe

noteably, the only time mb 2.0 (an mb with the trauma and neurosis shaved off — thank you tyrantosaurus-wrecks) mentions this possibility at all, it trusted art's judgement and was operating under the assumption that it wasn't a code attack

mix of mb and art much?

i do love that mb's response to bad things happening to it seems to be "protect my loved ones harder and from this thing specfically" (ratthi and being eaten by fauna — it had to watch and maybe attempt to save humans eaten by extremely hostile fauna, mensah and lack of security — it has seen countless humans underestimate danger and ignore mb's warnings and then get fucked up, and now art and comms getting hacked/killwared) even tho that almost certainly means it's not actually processing any of that trauma. but there are worse coping methods?

[wordpress-blaze-63194361]

When Drag Queens Were King

With the conflicts about LGBTQIA+, it is fascinating to look back at the history of gays in American history. Once, not only accepted but widely celebrated, drag was a prominent face in the entertainment industry.

During the Shakespearean period, in the late 16th century and early 17th century, women were not permitted to perform on the stage. Men played the female roles. While this wasn’t exactly “drag”, it’s possible gay men took advantage of the opportunity to express their feminine sides.

Originally, drag was not only applied to men performing while dressed as women but, any performer dressed in costumes other than their own gender. In fact, the first recorded drag contest and “ball” in America took place in 1867! Men and women performed in Harlem, New York. There were drag queens and drag kings. Notable during the 1880’s and 1890’s was William Dorsey Swann. Known as the Queen of Drag, Dorsey was more than just a drag queen. An African American, born into slavery, was known for holding secret drag balls. The “Queen of Drag”, Swann, is believed to be the first person in the United States to lead a gay resistance. He held secret drag balls in Washington, DC. One part of the drag balls included a competition known as a “cakewalk”, originally held on plantations by slaves. Couples would dance in precise steps and formation. It is believed to have been a way to subtly make fun of the formal white dances pre and post emancipation. As dance contests, the winners were awarded with cakes!

The Jazz Age (from 1920 - early 1930’s) in large cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco saw the popularity of drag performers rise. Minstrel shows, vaudeville, and burlesque provided drag entertainment. Unlike many drag performers, Jean (Gene) Malin was not trying to impersonate a woman. During Prohibition, the days of the “pansy craze”, Malin was openly gay and proud of it. Described as flamboyant and effeminate, he entertained audiences with a wonderful sense of humor. At six feet tall and two hundred pounds, Malin had a lisp that delighted his fans. He was capable of defending himself when needed. He performed in high end nightclubs and was featured in films and on Broadway.

In 1920 Drag Balls and contests were so popular they were even represented in film. Men were referred to as “pansies” or “sissies” and were often portrayed as clothing designers or tailors, hairdressers, or choreographers and dancers. Flamboyant and effeminate, they added humor to films. Women were portrayed as more masculine and dressed in male fashions.

There were actors and actresses who were known to be homosexual, if not to the general public, usually within their professional circles. In 1930’s, Marlene Dietrich, who made no secret of her bisexuality, had the first passionate same sex kiss in a film. However, that wasn’t the first same sex kiss in film. In 1922, Cecil B. DeMille directed a silent movie l, “Manslaughter”, that included an orgy. Although the first same sex kiss has been attributed to the later film, “Wings” in 1927, it was the earlier silent movie that broke the mold.

Drag has once again become popular in America with shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. On the other hand, the country is in turmoil. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community is already beginning to feel the change in the air, from the White House to every house, apartment, mobile home, hotel, or tent. The president has already signed several executive orders that will negatively impact LGBTQIA+ communities across the country. We can’t allow America to return to days of the Hays Code. We’ve too far to allow it to slip away.

Source: When Drag Queens Were King

[kinardsevan]

i was watching some Gabriel Iglesias jokes and he was discussing the correlation between men and wine, and it made me need to write this. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 call it another trip down the outsider view of bucktommyweek, even though it's now September.

-

“Lucky bitch.” 

Taylor mutters under her breath as she shifts in her seat, waiting on her date now for at least ten minutes past when he last texted he’d be around. She’s not even sure why she’s still waiting, but she doesn’t have any other plans for the evening, and she’s not about to spend another night at the station editing footage together her field report on the wildfire in the Angeles National Forest. But as she stares across at the man a few tables over, he seems to be held up as well, checking his watch and phone every few seconds. He has two empty wine glasses on the table with him, and a bottle resting in ice. She recognizes enough of the label to know that it’s not cheap. She stares at him for a time, contemplates getting up and going over, asking if he wants company. He’s tall and muscular, beefy, as the youths say today, and she hasn’t been with a guy like that since…well, since Buck. And truth be told, even Buck wasn’t as muscular as this Adonis sitting feet away from her. 

All at once, she’s both irritated, jealous, and annoyed. Irritated that this specimen of a man is sitting so close, yet so far away, and he’s not there for her; jealous for exactly that reason, and annoyed that she’s still waiting on the arrival of her date when she could be chatting up the man sitting at the other table. Still, she’s not entirely sure what stops her. Maybe it’s the way he seems to have an invisible box up around him, shutting everyone else out, or the way he keeps staring at his phone, waiting on whoever hasn’t arrived to meet him yet. Maybe it’s because of something else she can’t put her finger on. Either way, she doesn’t get a whole lot of time to piece it together, because her own date finally arrives a few seconds later, and before he can launch into a list of excuses as to what took him so long, she stops him. 

“First of all, I wait on no one, so this is your singular warning to not do this to me again,” she states. “Second, I’ve already ordered appetizers because I’ve been here waiting all this time for you to arrive, so third, I hope you’re prepared to pick up the check.” 

Somehow, a miracle, she thinks, the man sits down in the seat across from her, finally launching into his speech about why he was late, and she’s a little shocked he didn’t bail at her lecture. She’s pulled it out before—laid out her expectations front and center—with the understanding that she won’t be treated like a petulant teenager because someone else can’t keep their time straight. 

After the long-winded excuse, the appetizer arrives, and then there’s an order of their own drinks and the main course, and the next time she looks over at the beautiful man, his date has clearly arrived, although Taylor can’t see her between the other patrons around them now. What she can see, is the gorgeous man smiling, enraptured by whatever his date is telling him, a twinkle in his eye as he sips from his wine. At the same time, her own date drones on about his day job, and all she can think, yet again, is lucky bitch.

. . .

“Oh come on, not this motherfucker again.” 

It’s four weeks later when she sees him again. They aren’t even at the same restaurant. He’s being delivered to a booth this time while she sits at a different table, waiting on a different date. Late guy didn’t even make it to her doorstep. She’d abandoned him in the parking lot of the restaurant after he’d made a comment about journalists being hacks. And now, when she’s having to meet Kenny, one of the network higher-ups about trying to gain more of an anchoring position, this jackass has to be front and center for her again. 

She tries to ignore his presence by scrolling through her phone, even taking time to scroll through Tinder. Still, she mostly swipes left as the tables around her fill up. Once again, she’s left waiting while other people start their meals, enjoy their dates, and so forth. When she looks up at the pretty one again, it’s clear that his girlfriend has arrived because he’s got that same stupid smile on his face, although maybe a bit more subdued? Like maybe everything isn’t perfect in fantasy land? She wiggles an eyebrow to herself, contemplating her chances again over whether she should introduce herself to the walking Statue of David. But then the network bigwig is arriving and taking her attention away from the pretty one, and the next time she looks over, she sees him holding someone’s hand. Well so much for that. 

. . . 

“You have got to be kidding me.” 

Six weeks. She’d gone six weeks without seeing the sexpot that was the beautiful man who was now plaguing her dreams. And, like, it’s not like she was fantasizing about him or anything…but she was very aware of how gorgeous he was both times she’d seen him previously, and she couldn’t help herself, taking inventory of him. Those muscles, that jaw, the curl of his hair…

Except, tonight he’s less buttoned-up. The sleeves of the maroon henley he has on are shoved up to his elbows, exposing the sinewy lines of his arms, as though he completed a workout not that long ago. But it’s the jeans that do it for her; the way they hug his ass and thighs, and all over again, she’s jealous. And also now, now she’s angry. She’s angry that she keeps getting roped into these stupid nowhere dates and network meetings that aren’t gaining her the traction she wants, but some other girl out there is getting to ride that stallion all over fucking Los Angeles. When is she going to get her turn? 

Clearly not tonight, because date number four with the guy she’s been out with over the past two weeks is starting out the same way the last three have—he’s late. And the thing is, Taylor gets being late. Reporters are, by nature, always late to the scene. It’s a minor miracle when they’re actually at a place, much less with cameras rolling when an event happens. More often than not though, they only get the aftermath, so she can rationalize not being on time all the time…. But this guy hasn’t been on time once. And they specifically picked this restaurant because it was closer to his place than hers. And yet…

The pretty one is on his phone, looking rather perturbed as he listens to whoever is on the other end of the line. She watches as his expression goes from that, to one of concern, a pause to smile and laugh—there’s that stupid twinkle again. Does this bitch even realize how good she has it?—back to the worried expression. He’s too far away for her to make out what he’s saying, but before long, he’s slapping money on the counter and leaving before she can figure out what’s driving his attention. Her journalist skills have her wanting to get up and leave, follow after the man and find out what has him so concerned all of a sudden…but her stupid date comes through the dining room then, already rattling off an excuse. She stands, lists all the reasons that she’s not staying and why there won’t be another date—and why the tab is on him for the drinks she had while waiting—but by the time she makes it to the parking lot, the beautiful man is gone. 

Taylor huffs. 

. . . 

Three weeks later, she’s sitting at a table in a coffee house, reading through an article she’s written up. She’s gotten a decent amount of bylines since her book got published, and if things are going to continue to fuck her over at her current network, then maybe it’s time for a change. Besides, she’s heard some good things back from a friend down at the sister network a few miles over, so why not? 

The door chimes, and she ignores it, along with whoever walks in and up to the counter. They’re too far away for her to really hear, but she looks up when a barista comes to her table with freshly ordered latté and scone…

…and her eyes fall directly onto one Evan Fucking Buckley. She stares at him with a furrowed brow for a minute. He’s in his LAFD hoodie and a pair of dark joggers, probably coming off of a shift and heading home, if his generally slumped composure is anything to go by. There’s a generous bruising along the side of his jaw that has her curious, but they haven’t spoken in quite some time—not since a few weeks after he was struck by lightening, and even then, it was a short conversation—so she’s not about to step back into his life and start asking questions. 

Still, she’s taken by seeing him out in the wild. She watches briefly as he makes small talk with the barista behind the counter—someone he clearly knows well. While she can’t hear them or read lips, she can tell by their postures that the barista is asking about the bruise, and he’s quick to dismiss it, as though having his face that color is just normal. Still, she doesn’t want to eavesdrop, and before long, she’s looking back at her computer, trying to work on the article she has up. 

The door chimes again, and this time, she looks up, only because her brain is still atuned to picking out Buck’s voice in a crowd. Still, her brow furrows when she overhears ‘hi, honey’. 

She looks back up, glancing around the café, very confused when she doesn’t see another female striding up to him. Instead, her jaw slacks open as her eyes fall on him. The fucking beautiful man. The one from the restaurants—the one she’d been so jealous about. And he-…wait what!? She watches him stride right up to Buck and slide a hand down his back right over his ass and use the other to turn his cheek with fingers wrapped around his chin, clearly eyeing the bruise. Buck nods—clearly having been asked if he’s okay—and then the gorgeous one kisses him and Taylor is pretty sure at that point her brain is in a puddle on the tabletop. 

A moment later though, she quickly recomposes herself, because they must’ve felt her staring, when Buck looks over in her direction. His brow furrows briefly, and then he lifts a hand and waves. She gives the slightest hint of an affiliative smile and a quick wave back, turning her attention back to her computer. She’d been right, all of those times she’d seen the gorgeous man before. He was taken, and the person lucky enough to have him was in fact a lucky bitch. 

She just never expected the lucky bitch to be her ex-boyfriend; and that spurred a jealousy all of its own. 

[cyberclouddream]

What You Tend to Use Social Media For

Things we tend to seek and/or share on social media. Recommend looking for Mercury first. Also, whichever sign rules over your 11th House, look for whichever house that sign naturally rules over, e.g. Cancer/4H, Sagittarius/9H, Libra/7H, Aquarius/11H.

Gemini/Mercury in the 1st House

- to show off your personality traits and quirks, what makes you interesting

- fashion updates, like outfit and style experiments

- sharing mundane daily activities

- to create a particular public image

- instant reactions to events or trending topics

- to use your humor or wit to attract followers or engagement

- creating FOMO, lmao

- to experiment with social media trends

- to post controversial topics/challenge norms

- to seek likes and comments for self-esteem boosts

Gemini/Mercury in the 2nd House

- personal finance hacks or budgeting advice

- to post luxury items or flaunt purchases

- personal value discussion, like what’s truly important to them

- for marketing research, like judging product reviews

- promoting side hustles, businesses, or services

- to hunt for discounts or offers online

- gift ideas

- investment ideas, like stocks or crypto

Gemini/Mercury in the 3rd House

- to post about happenings in the neighborhood or community

- to engage in debates

- share updates or funny stories about family members

- post poetry, short stories, or personal anecdotes

- advertise local events or gatherings

- share educational resources or articles

- to vent about everyday frustrations

- microblogging

- posting thought-provoking questions

Gemini/Mercury in the 4th House

- family updates, like gatherings or milestones

- home projects or renovations

- childhood memories, like sharing old photos and stories

- showcase local businesses or attractions, supporting community

- personal growth experiences

- family or cultural traditions

- pet updates

- to rally support for family members

- to discuss family troubles openly

Gemini/Mercury in the 5th House

- post artwork, crafts, or performances

- date night ideas, like romantic spots

- parenting chronicles, lol

- viral social media challenges

- highlight hobbies or interests

- celebrate achievements

- flirtation, online dating

- promote fun activities

- encouraging others to participate in events or projects

Gemini/Mercury in the 6th House

- how to manage stress or workload

- health hacks and wellness tips

- productivity routines

- job milestones

- fitness challenges

- volunteer opportunities

- health struggles

- day-in-the-life posts

- job market trends

Gemini/Mercury in the 7th House

- relationship status updates, like breakups or dating life

- collaborative projects

- group discussions, like conversations about issues or shared interests

- relationship advice

- event planning, like gatherings or parties

- gossiping about friends

- insights about balancing relationships and independence

- to rally support for friends in tough personal times

- asking followers for advice on relationships decisions

Gemini/Mercury in the 8th House

- sharing intimate thoughts, like fears or deep feelings

- discuss finances, like tips on managing shared resources or investments

- to explore vulnerability with intimacy and trust

- personal growth stories

- to talk about change, like life transitions and transformations

- crowdsourcing solutions

- to engage in deep conversations on profound topics

- to discuss loss, grief, and/or coping mechanisms

- to seek closure

Gemini/Mercury in the 9th House

- travel stories

- cultural insights

- education advocacy, like promoting courses or learning resources

- debating beliefs, like philosophical or political

- inspirational quotes

- global issues

- book recommendations

- sharing experiences through videos or photos

- connecting with others from diverse backgrounds

- encouraging exploration, to inspire others to step outside of comfort zones

Gemini/Mercury in the 10th House

- sharing career milestones

- networking posts, like opportunities and connections through peers

- personal branding, promoting your craft or projects

- seek career advice or industry insights

- discuss ambitions, sharing dreams and goals

- showcase participation in community

- sharing learning experiences

- work/life reflections

- to shift public perceptions, especially after setbacks

- host Q&A sessions

- mentorship opportunities or anything related to guidance/support culture

Gemini/Mercury in the 11th House

- to grow your social circle

- to join causes or charity work

- posting about community events or group outings

- share friend’s achievements and milestones

- discuss future goals, like collective ambitions and aspu

- connect with like-minded people

- to debate societal changes or movements

- to organize or participate in virtual hangouts [ like Discord, virtual worlds ]

Gemini/Mercury in the 12th House

- share personal struggles, like mental health issues or personal battles

- reflect on dreams and fantasies

- document experiences of solitude or self-discovery

- spiritual conversations, like spiritual beliefs or mystical experiences

- posting anonymously about sensitive tooics

- using creative outlets like poetry or art to convey deeper feelings

- discuss unconventional ideas

- seek support through online communities

- content related to the mysterious, like astrology or the occult

- post about reflections or meditation

[ppyopulii]

maestro's muse 💿 meet the orgs!

PREVIEW. Join us in welcoming this year's organizers working the big event! Aren't you excited to see what we have in store? 🤭

FEATURING. lee jihoon x gn!reader, various non-idol!hybe groups & reader GENRE(S). coming of age, fluff, some angst EXPLICITS. soonyoung, once again; yeonjun, for once.

JAY’S MUSINGS. @studioeisa, this was created for you. yes, you. i saw your notif and finished this part in two hours. watch out for the next part sometime soon-ish :)

www.hybehax.tech/meet-the-orgs

@hybehax has uploaded a new post. Click to view now!

🟡 hybehax 📍Hybe University, S. Korea

hybehax Our openers for tonight are yours truly—HYBEHAX’s Marketing Team! We’ll be handling all the social medias for our upcoming event, so make sure to keep an eye out for new posts in case you get a sneak peek at our 10th anniversary’s hackathon setlist 👀📋 liked by energyboo.st, min9yu_kim, d1noz and 127 others see 11 comments... kimchi.won YUNJIN MY BELOVED kwonho5hi @/d1noz? more like DEEZ NUTS IN YO MOUTH ⤷ d1noz I hate you ⤷ chyeonjunie Ayo this is a uni org account 😭

🟡 hybehax 📍Hybe University, S. Korea

hybehax Behold, the reason our artists (AKA you!) are able to skyrocket into stardom with their favorite record labels—Sponsorship Team is here to bring you all the juiciest record deals with their sponsors! Make sure to come to our event to not miss out on networking events and brand deals! 💸💽 liked by y.jeonghan, eunchaye, and 142 others see 12 comments... y.jeonghan Lol who wrote the caption?? ⤷ seokminnies Do u not like it :( xminghao yoon jeonghan u are not fooling Anyone. aren't u bald

🟡 hybehax 📍Hybe University, S. Korea

hybehax Of course, what's a festival without its technical team!? These folks make sure our equipment is set up (read: the website registration is working), our artists are happy (read: no one is trying to hack our back-end), and ensures that all technological problems are fixed immediately (read: they stay up all night fixing bugs on the app)! Here's to you, Tech Team of HYBEHAX! 🤓🎙️ liked by jeonwonu_, mysakura_, junhuihui and 122 others see 8 comments... huh_yunjin my girlies <3 jeonwonu_ Vernon and Jun LOLL inthe_soob terryyyy 🔥

🟡 hybehax 📍 Hybe University, S. Korea

hybehax Here comes one of the main events: Design Team 🎨🖍️! You can thank them for our eye-catching designs this year, and can expect more like this if you follow us through the hackathon season! (psst. they even design our merch and its pretty fire if I do say so myself!) liked by luvfurikake, xminghao, and 136 others see 7 comments... kwonho5hi how come our design lead has the prettiest post ⤷ luvfurikake i'm the one who designed them you twerp 01bmgy @/chyeonjunie Why do you pose like that ⤷ chyeonjunie Idk, ask ur mom why she poses the way she does whenever I come over ⤷ penguin.kai hyung this is a public social media account...

🟡 hybehax 📍 Hybe University, S. Korea

hybehax Last but certainly not least, please give a warm welcome to our 20XX HYBEHAX E-Board! Without them, HYBEHAX wouldn't be as successful as it is these days. Now that you know all our artists, who’s ready to make some noise for our 10th annual coding concert!? 🎫🎶💻 liked by cscoups, kwonho5hi, and 139 others see 9 comments... cscoups 💯 leejihoon_ Those are not the images I submitted ⤷ energyboos.t THE IMAGES YOU SUBMITTED WERE BOOOOORRRIIIIIING

[mbta-unofficial]

I might be asking the wrong person here, but why is the Acela so expensive? I need to travel from Boston to DC for a week for work so I compared costs and convenience of driving, flying, and taking the Acela and was surprised to find that the Acela costs more than flying (I was able to find round trip flights BOS-DCA for about $170, the Acela starts at about $140 each way) despite being significantly slower. Why does it cost so much?

I will concede that the Northeast Regional is cheaper than flying (about $60 each way), but it's also even slower than the Acela.

The Acela has several problems compared to analogous systems in other countries, and as a business problems mean costs and costs means prices.

Making a direct comparison to air travel also requires talking a little bit about the economics of air travel, since there are surprising number of weird things about that business compared to rail.

Part 1. Amtrak doesn’t own most of its own tracks. While it does own most of the North East Corridor, it leases track rights for the boston-providence leg from ME MOTHERFUCKER I’M THE PROBLEM and also the states of NY and CT own a section between NYC and New Haven. Now, when you are trying to have trains at up to 160mph, you need maintenance to be done within extremely tight tolerances, you need signaling to be extremely precise and consistent, and small mistakes can be deadly. Signaling and Maintenance on rented tracks are not literally impossible but they are a huge pain in the ass. These sections are slower and make the whole network much more expensive.

Part Two! Electification: this is one of the oldest rail corridors in the world and that means there’s a lot of old DNA in the network that it would not have if there was a full rebuild. One of these design “features” is that when the line was built, electricity wasn’t standardized and different plants would churn out different voltages and AC frequencies.

Between NYC and Washington there is a catenary system that operates at 11kv, 25hz that was built in 1905. This is insane. The modern grid runs at 60hz, and transforming power from a modern plant into 11kv, 25hz is a huge project in and of itself. But of course, the Boston to Providence section, electrified in 1990, has only the most cutting edge technology. It’s electrified with 60hz, 12.5kv, 10 years ahead of its time which was 35 years ago. And, when the Acela was first planned and operated in 2000, it was planned and operated with the now modern standard of 60hz, 25kv. So there are three different electrification systems and, to not have to switch trains, each train needs to be able to run with all 3 of them.

This is deeply stupid and only something you would have to deal with if you were hacking together increasingly expensive short term repairs onto a system that would be cheaper in 20-50 years to completely overhaul but in the present would cost 10s of billions to meaningfully bring up to 20th century operating standards. It’s a good thing we did the smart thing in the 1970s when Amtrak nationalized the collapsing private passenger rail companies and Conrail nationalized the collapsing freight rail companies and we recognized that running these crucial services with public money could generate huge amounts of economic activity and benefit society even if they ran at a fiscal loss, and properly funded the systems to build reliable and interoperable infrastructure for the next generation. Hold on I have to take this phone call.

………….

Yep.

…………..

Yeah ok.

…………..

They did WHAT?

Part Three: Ronald reagan is not dead enough

So yeah the main reason that none of this shit got fixed in the last 50 years is that for 4 successive administrations between Reagan and Bush 2 electric boogaloo the government has been slobbing on that Neoliberal knob like its subsidized corn on a subsidized cob. Private operators immediately saw the potential for infinitely lucrative federal contracts when the US seized the assets of Erie Lackawanna and Penn Central during their bankruptcy and formed Conrail. This was mainly Norfolk southern and CSX, former competitors who pushed hard for the reagan, bush, and clinton organizations to refurbish the lines at taxpayer expense before selling them to absolute corporate bottomfeeders so they could snap up lines that had been the main sources of revenue for these defunct companies at kleptocratic rates. But we’re not done. Freight companies hate two things more than even paying taxes, and these are OSHA and Passenger rail.

You see, it’s actually very hard to run freight and passenger on the same tracks. Freight is slow with long trains, long sidings, and loose schedules. Freight is optimized to get there, you know, sometime as cheap as possible. However, if you have passenger rail, those people have places to be. They need things like advanced signaling to move faster than 15 miles an hour, sidings long enough to pass at speed, and even, gasp, rails that don’t have holes in them so they don’t derail on corners. It’s not hard for a freight train to move along a track that is 85% rust, they just go slow and if they derail you’re only looking at maybe 2 superfund sites. But passenger rail, there will be bumps and passengers will complain. Customers are so unreasonable.

So when the federal government acquired all the tracks that became conrail, what did they do? Cut sidings, cut double tracks down to single tracks, cut maintenance, sold land. None of these bothered their future freight owner-operators. But they did undermine American passenger rail, on purpose, for 50 years. As soon as the work was done, the tracks were unfit for anything other than 400 box trucks of nitroglycerin pulled by two locomotives with one operator. How do you run passenger rail on that? Well, you play by CSX and Norfolk Bastard’s rules. Fuck your schedule. Fuck it slow. Fuck it for so long that it hurts. And, when you’ve bled enough revenue, complain to the federal government that you can’t possibly keep going and need to be sold off to private equity for parts.

So yeah. Freight rail in the 70s, the ruthless march of neoliberal capitalism, a frankenstein’s monster of a network, and a complete lack of revenue from either public subsidy or ridership to fix either problem.

Oh and there’s the fact that every single Major airline operates their flights at a loss and use credit cards as their primary source of income. The scheme is you take out a credit card, they run like a normal credit card company, except whereas most banks give you cash back they give you “miles” or “points” the vast majority of which will never get spent. It’s almost a license to print money as long as you have enough people you can convince will someday be able to afford to go on vacation with that fancy credit card they paid for. Budget Airlines who don’t run this scheme are folding both in the sense that they are going under financially and also in the sense that you better hope that your spine lets you compress into the overhead compartment if you want to get to your destination.

[sanjanabia]

Backdoors in Cybersecurity: What They Are and How to Protect Against Them

In today’s digital landscape, the term "backdoor" has become increasingly prevalent in discussions about cybersecurity. But what exactly are backdoors, and how can they compromise your security? Understanding these hidden vulnerabilities is crucial for anyone interested in maintaining the integrity of their systems. If you’re considering a cyber security course in Hyderabad, this knowledge will be a vital part of your education.

What Are Backdoors?

A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication processes in a computer system, software, or network. It allows unauthorized users to gain access to data without the usual security measures. Backdoors can be intentionally created by developers for troubleshooting purposes, but they can also be exploited by malicious actors to gain access to sensitive information.

There are various ways backdoors can be introduced:

Malicious Software (Malware): Many forms of malware, such as Trojans, are designed to create backdoors in systems.

Software Bugs: Unintentional coding errors can also leave a system vulnerable to backdoor access.

Configuration Errors: Poorly configured software may inadvertently expose systems to unauthorized access.

The risk associated with backdoors is significant, making it essential for cybersecurity professionals to understand how to identify and mitigate them.

Why Are Backdoors Dangerous?

Backdoors can have devastating consequences for organizations and individuals alike. They can lead to:

Data Breaches: Unauthorized access can result in the theft of sensitive information, such as personal data, financial records, or intellectual property.

System Compromise: Once a backdoor is established, attackers can install additional malicious software, potentially taking complete control of the affected system.

Reputation Damage: Organizations that suffer a data breach may face significant reputational harm, leading to loss of customer trust and potential legal consequences.

In the context of cybersecurity, understanding backdoors is fundamental for safeguarding information systems. A comprehensive cyber security course in Hyderabad will cover the nature of these threats and the strategies to combat them.

How to Protect Against Backdoors

Preventing backdoor vulnerabilities requires a multi-faceted approach. Here are some effective strategies:

1. Regular Software Updates

One of the simplest yet most effective ways to protect against backdoors is to keep software up to date. Developers frequently release patches to fix known vulnerabilities, including backdoors. Make it a habit to regularly check for and install updates on all systems.

2. Strong Authentication Measures

Implementing strong, multi-factor authentication can make it significantly harder for unauthorized users to gain access. By requiring more than just a password, you add an extra layer of security that can deter attackers.

3. Conduct Regular Security Audits

Regularly auditing your systems for vulnerabilities can help identify potential backdoors before they are exploited. Engaging in penetration testing and vulnerability assessments can uncover weaknesses that need to be addressed.

4. Employee Training

Educating employees about the risks associated with backdoors and other cybersecurity threats is crucial. A cyber security course in Hyderabad can provide valuable training that helps your team recognize and mitigate risks effectively.

5. Use Firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems

Firewalls can help block unauthorized access, while intrusion detection systems monitor network traffic for suspicious activity. Together, they form a robust defense against potential backdoor access.

6. Code Review and Quality Assurance

For organizations that develop software, conducting thorough code reviews can help identify and eliminate potential backdoors before the software is deployed. Implementing quality assurance processes can also mitigate risks during development.

The Importance of Cybersecurity Education

As cyber threats continue to evolve, the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals has never been greater. A cyber security course in Hyderabad can equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to identify, prevent, and respond to threats like backdoors.

These courses often cover a range of topics, including:

The fundamentals of cybersecurity

Threat analysis and risk management

Ethical hacking techniques

Incident response strategies

By enrolling in a cybersecurity course, you not only enhance your understanding of backdoors but also prepare yourself for a rewarding career in a field that is critical to the safety of our digital world.

Conclusion

Backdoors pose a significant threat in the realm of cybersecurity, making it essential for individuals and organizations to be proactive in their defense strategies. Understanding what backdoors are, the risks they present, and how to protect against them is crucial for maintaining system integrity.

As you consider your journey into the cybersecurity field, remember that a solid education, such as a cyber security course in Hyderabad, can empower you with the skills to combat these hidden dangers effectively. By staying informed and prepared, you can play an essential role in the ongoing fight against cyber threats.

[eponastory]

Watching From the Tower - Part 1 (Bucky/F Reader)

Your code name is Scout and your job was easy. You worked the cyber side of things for the New Avengers. You directed them where to go with your hacking skills, and you are the eyes in the sky. There was just one problem... you don't like leaving the tower. You are not a complete agoraphobe, but you are pretty close. Leaving makes you feel so unsafe and people touching you, that's even worse. So, when James Buchanan Barnes the former 'Winter Soldier' tries to get you out for one mission, things got a little hectic after that.

Part 1: The team gets ready for a mission while you go to war with Bucky about leaving the Tower.

Word Count: ~2.4k words.

Rating: M (Later parts will be marked 18+ for smut, but for now, it's okay.)

Pairings: Bucky/F!Reader (Non-descriptive, No Y/N) Squint for GhostWalker and Boblena (Platonic)

TW: Angst, Depression, mentions of past SA, phobias, Anxiety, MDNI for sexual content in later parts (Will be labeled).

You’re pretty sure you are not really that much of a tech genius compared to the late great Tony Stark with all his fancy programs, but you make do. You’ve got it all under control so when you’re hired to not only be the girl that walks the team through every security measure and hacks into whatever network they need you to bypass on the job, you’re that person. Unfortunately, it comes with the not-so-welcome benefit of working under Valentina’s thumb. 

How you can’t stand her, but you have to do what you have to do in order to pay on your student loans from college when you graduated over ten years ago. It’s not a bad job, but you end up in the crossfire anyway. You don’t know how you ended up here, you just did. Maybe it was fate, but here you are six months after the announcement for the New Avengers and you are working on Alexei's broken phone. 

“It can’t be hard to fix phone.” You stop what you are doing with the soldering tool and look at him as he’s standing over your shoulder. 

You sigh. “Alexei, if you would quit dropping it, this wouldn’t be an issue.” One more drop and it would be over with. No more phone for Alexei. “Go make yourself useful or something and I’ll let you know when it’s done.” 

You’re in your little workshop down below the main hub where the team meets up. You have everything you need here and Val was able to provide everything you asked for on the promise that you had a place to keep it. No one else could get in there to do anything you didn’t approve of and when the Team had to go on missions? You were in the hot seat for comms and getting them home. 

It was definitely a nice change of pace from working for her directly to working under Bucky’s command. That was the deal. You listened to Bucky, and Yelena too, since both of them seemed to be a sort of duo when it comes to giving orders. 

“Okay, okay, I go find John and maybe he will spar with me.” Good riddance. You prefer to work alone. 

“Great, I’ll bring this to you when I’m done.” You roll your eyes as he walks out of your workshop. “I can never catch a break.” The words slip out of your mouth as you go back to soldering the chip back into place on the phone. “One thing after another.” 

Then your phone rings after five minutes of tinkering. Of course it would be him. He probably wants you to look into something or fix the AI that you’ve installed because it’s doing something stupid again. You aren’t Tony Stark so you can’t do everything like him. 

“Yeah?” You put the phone between your ear and shoulder as you continue to work on Alexei’s phone. 

“Be up here in ten. We’ve got a mission.” Bucky’s voice is serious which means your current plight has to be put on hold. 

“Got any specifics?” You set aside your soldering tool before you move to your couch to grab your jacket and head out of the door. 

“Just be here in ten.” 

“I’ll be there in two.” You smirk as he scoffs over the phone and then hangs up. You know how to get on his nerves. 

You make it up to the hub in two minutes exactly going by your watch. You grab your tablet as soon as you get to the Comms desk and you are good to go as Bucky makes his way over to you. Paying attention to him is not on your to do list because you know it annoys him. You swivel around in your chair just as Bob comes around the corner with a milkshake in one hand and a book in the other. 

“Hey, Scout!” Bob is always excited to see you. 

“Hey, Bob.” You give him a little wave and a smile before he continues to his little nook. He likes to listen in on the Comms when missions are going on, and sometimes he’s very helpful. Other times, he’s always doing something to keep his mind occupied. 

You look at your ‘boss’ who’s looking at his own tablet with intensity before he hands it to you with that infamous scowl on his face. “What do you think?” 

“It’s a building in Singapore.” Once again, another mission that has the team travelling outside of US borders for reasons. Bucky isn’t interested in completely following the government on this, but he always ends up strong-arming Val into submission. Yelena is also very good at blackmail. “With some of the most advanced cyber security that country has.” You flip through the files and realize that this is a Chinese operation. “Oh boy. Are we really going after them?” 

“Yeah, they’ve taken some hostages from a bioengineering facility and apparently one of them is the inventor of this.” Bucky runs his finger across the screen to a machine that is capable of blasting cancer cells without harming the patient. 

“Interesting.” You raise an eyebrow at the specs on the instrument. “No radiation needed, just a high powered laser that moves at a tenth of a tenth of a second, but why would the Chinese be interested in that?” 

“I was hoping you can figure that out.” He looks at you with those blue eyes of his and even though you have this very interesting relationship of antagonization and fraternization going on, you cave. 

“Yeah, maybe– but you guys have got to be careful. I don’t think going in uniform would be the best thing. This will definitely be breaking some international laws, especially with– well you know.” 

“I do, and that is why you are coming with us this time.” 

“And leave Bob by himself?” You don’t like leaving Bob by himself. 

“Alexei is staying. It’s just Ava, you, Yelena, John, and me.” 

“And what exactly will I be doing?” You stand up and put your hand on your hip. 

Bucky sighs. “Playing a part.” 

Oh that’s just great. “What part?” 

“They are going to auction off the machine. We need to get our hands on it and also find a way to get the engineer out of their hands too.” There is no way you are going to be able to do this. You are an introvert that can’t even handle going to the grocery store for tampons. You barely like coming out of your workshop to work the missions and you were happy to keep to yourself. 

“Bucky, I haven’t been out of here in three weeks and I am not the type of girl to dress up in public.” 

“And you won’t be.” He reaffirms because he knows you don’t like leaving your rabbit hole. “You can do all of this from the hotel, right?” 

“I can do it from here actually.” It was a blessing to be able to hack into any satellite in Earth’s orbit in order to crack a safe open in a place like Tokyo. You’ve done it before and that is what led to you standing right there with Bucky in front of you. “Bucky, please don’t make me go.” You tilt your head, pleading with your eyes. “Please?” 

“Let Scout stay. This is not the first time she has done this from here.” Yelena says walking in suited up and ready to go. “Besides, she is safer here.” 

“See? I’m safer here.” You see Bucky’s jaw clench when he knows he’s lost against you and Yelena. 

“I say she stays too.” Ava appears out of nowhere like always and you smile at her for having your back. 

“What is this? Women Unite?” You scowl at Walker’s words as he saunters in with his shield still bent in the shape of a taco. “I’m all for team building and all, but this isn’t it.” He scoffs before taking a seat on the couch and acting like he’s the best of the best. You see Bucky shake his head in disbelief. 

“Okay, fine. You win.” The team leader caves and you sigh. “We’ll talk after the briefing.” Bucky holds his hand out for the tablet that belongs to him and you hand it over with a smirk on your face. You’ll rub this victory in later for sure. 

“Thank you, Bucky.” You say as he turns away with this look in his eyes that does something to you. 

You sit down in your chair with a huff as he starts going over the mission and each member’s role in it. As soon as each of the team members were given their objectives, they each came to you for the equipment they needed. Obviously the earpieces that you had built with unlimited range were handed out with each name on the case. They were discreet enough to hide in plain sight while in any situation. You could also communicate individually with any of them with the flick of a switch. 

Bucky is the last one to come to you as everyone walks away to their personal lockers to gear up. You hand him the two most important devices of the operation because without them, you couldn’t do shit from where you were. It all depended on Bucky having them. One was a device that connected him to the satellite. You could hack anything within two miles of him with the Sentinel device and then the other one was for security. 

“Come with me.” He doesn’t explain as he moves to his office on the other end of the room. You follow him like an obedient puppy this time, not really putting up a fight because he gives you that sincere look. 

The moment you two are in there, he closes the door behind you and then moves to his own weapons cabinet to gear up. He wasn’t wearing anything other than the UnderArmor shirt that he normally puts on underneath the woven fiber canvas that he wears over it. But you stand there and watch as he puts it on and then zips it up. That red star on his right arm means something more than it did years ago. 

“Val will probably stop by while we’re gone. Try not to give her too much information on the situation if you can help it.” He then pulls out the chest armor he finds a little cumbersome but at the same time you think he looks pretty good in it. “I have a feeling she wants the machine for herself and we’re getting it for her.” 

“So, basically, find out what she’s really up to.” You cross your arms as he’s strapping his armor to him and then pulling his knives out of the cabinet and arming himself. 

“Pretty much.” He’s placing his side arm in the holster on his thigh along with the knife that goes with it. “Look, I wanted you to come with us because you’ve been up here for weeks, keeping to yourself.” 

“That’s what I do, Bucky.” You can’t help it, you’ve been like this since– well since the Blip. You haven't stepped outside unless you needed to. It wasn’t even the Blip that did this to you. It was something that happened during the Blip and you still haven’t recovered. “I’m safe here.” 

“I know.” His voice goes soft as he moves closer to you. “It took months for you to actually talk to me without being terrified.” 

“Well, you are pretty intimidating.” You shrug and then you flinch when he puts a hand on your arm. You shrug him off because contact is hard for you. “Sorry, I just– I still have some things to work on.” 

He nods with a little guilt in his eyes at having crossed a boundary. “No, I’m sorry.” You weren’t ready. “I– I don’t want you to feel alone.” 

“If there is anything I don’t feel, it’s definitely not alone.” You give Bucky a smile. “All of you come see me at least once a day if we aren’t doing missions or meetings of some sort– but I think you check up on me the most.” 

It’s true, he’s either calling you or knocking on the door to your workshop because you practically live in it. He had Valentina set up the section next door into a small apartment for you so you’d stop sleeping on the couch. You had a bed now at least. You were just happy that you found some sort of belonging with this group of misfits that all had something wrong with them. You matched their crazy and they matched yours. Especially Yelena and Ava, who dragged you into drinking games every chance they could get. 

“I’m okay, Bucky. I really am.” You reach out to touch him this time. You put your hand on his right arm and squeeze it. “I appreciate that you wanted me to go with you guys, but I would just be a liability in the field.” His eyes told you that he knew that, but they also told you that he regretted asking. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking to be honest.” He admits and you smile. 

“Despite your grumpy old man attitude, you wear that heart of yours on your sleeve.” 

“Only for you, Sweetheart.” He doesn’t realize what he said to you until it’s too late, and he doesn’t break the attitude. He clears his throat before he's moving to the door and you’re watching him with warm cheeks and a look of bewilderment on your face. He turns to look at you again with no hint of what happened only moments before and his hand on the doorknob. “You’ll have about eight hours before we land in Singapore so get some rest while you can.” 

And just like that, he’s out of the door. 

You stand at the windows watching as the team loads up on the jet with Bucky at the yolk with Yelena in co-pilot. You had made an update to the autopilot systems last week so if something should happen, you could easily hack in and take full access to flying the jet yourself. Almost like a drone, really. But you watch as Bucky’s eyes turn to you through the windows and then he’s taking off. 

“Well, it is just you, me, and Bob.” Alexei stands next to you with a smile before he’s moving to the couch to sit and watch TV. “Bob! We should watch Judge Judy.” 

[spidergrotto]

realistically, spider-man has probably befriended loads of vigilantes ( maybe even kind of sort of criminals ) while patrolling and he’s probably got thousands of connections without realizing it.

at this point in time he’s been to loads of avengers meetings and debriefs and while it’ll never NOT be cool, he isn’t.. it just isn’t something he looks forward too or stressed about anymore.

so he’s been caught late a few times, stumbling in mumbling apologies and excuses ( tony teases him for it— oh are we not cool enough for you? )

he’s late for a briefing this time, some sort of underground network of bases ( it’s a secret lair, why can’t they just call it a secret lair? ) and peter isn’t really surprised, he’s worked on these sorts of missions before—

“oh, mr captain rogers — deadpool is already working on this one, he invited me yesterday but i was napping and missed the call, don’t tell him that though he’ll get sad.”

and suddenly he’s being questioned by everyone but clint who wasn’t all that surprised ( neither was natasha, but what bussiness did peter have talking to people like deadpool? )

“when the hell did you start talking to deadpool—”

“ he has your NUMBER?—”

“ we’re friends mr stark— what do you mean— i know other— of course i’m friends with other vigila— is anyone listening?? ”

“did you hack karen? why wasn’t i— this should be in the baby monitor—”

“why did he contact you of all people— is he doing this alone? do you know how dangerous—”

[unhappy-last-resort]

A Sinful Escapade, featuring Yandere Roland and Yandere Chrome

General Warnings: Somnopholia, non-con, smut, some body worship

Warnings for Roland: Threats of violence (not acted upon), mentions kidnapping, use of pet names "darling" and "rabbit", fingering, marking

Warnings for Chrome: body worship, cunnilingus/analingus, come eating (Chrome), use of pet names "my dear" and "my love"

These are both written with a GN Reader

Roland would sneak into your room at night and just enjoy himself until you inevitably wake up.

He entered slowly, like a wraith stepping out of the shadows, smile on his face and licking his lips as he thought of all the things he could do now that he's here.

He eyes your things, stealing a shirt and using the Punishing to hack into your terminal, taking as much information as he could find before destroying it. After all, he doesn't want his precious human getting sick, but he's still on your enemies side. You can't really expect him to only come here to play with you and not bring something worthwhile for his master, now can you?

He watches your chest rise and fall in a peaceful rhythm for a moment, before reaching over to peel off the blankets and see what's underneath, only to frown.

Your clothes annoy him, he just wants to indulge you in as quickly as possible. It's been months since he last saw you and he's been desperate for most of them.

He made quick work of the obnoxious fabric you hid yourself with, using his cleaver to cut through some of it more easily and now, at last, he could feel himself relax a little. He took his time, studying every dip, curve, and mark you have and committing it to memory as if it was sacred.

He carefully run his fingers over your skin, his grin widening as you shift in your sleep. It's a little funny how humans tend to be so arrogant even in the face of their inevitable doom when you inhabit such, soft and plush bodies. All it would take is just a little more force, a little more strength for your blood to spill over your blankets and stain his hands.

He sighed wistfully and laid down next to you, sleeping bag rustling underneath him. He had to admit, it was surprisingly comfortable, at least it was in comparison to what he remembers them feeling like. He wonders if that's a part of your commandant privilege, or if this is the standard of sleeping bags now.

With that thought in mind, he starts to whisper random thoughts into your ear like vague anecdotes from his past, or his opinions on various constructs he's encountered and their fates, and how much he missed you.

He missed you.

He missed you so fucking much, it hurts. He knows the Ascension-Network wouldn't take kindly to a human that's not going to undergo construct surgery and the ascension, but he so badly just wants to whisk you away right now to a decently maintained building and have his Corrupted surround it to ensure that no unwanted guests come in, and you don't get out.

He sighs discontentedly and stares at your face, smile replaced with something between wistfulness and loathing. If he could just keep you somewhere for him and him alone and not worry about outside influences, it would be the most worthwhile and perfect play he could ever perform in.

Of course, there was the issue of your mortality, but he'd like to take the time and relish your human body before changing it to a metal one, and one that can't fight him.

His eyes sweep over your form one more time, imagining it wrapped in ribbons, or tied in lace just for him to come undo it all and gorge himself on you, your voice, and your human warmth.

He walks his fingers down your torso, pausing at the hips to do a little dance that's most entirely for his bemusement before sliding between your thighs, one finger slowly pushing into you.

He thrusts it in and out of you experimentally, enjoying the feeling of your gummy walls around his finger and heat that emanates from them. It crosses his mind that a curl of his finger and a flick of his wrist is all it would take to rip you open, but he's not interested in that right now.

Right now he wants to moan and cry loudly enough for all the Babylonians to hear, so he can watch you teeter out of your temporary shelter with humiliation on your face as all the other constructs whisper behind your back.

Your expression is his favorite to watch. The pained discomfort on your face when he spreads his fingers that so easily relaxes into pleasure with a few thrusts of his fingers. It's amusing how even unconscious you can't seem to decide if you want more, or if you want it to stop.

He can hear muffled voices outside and he can't help a chuckle as he nuzzles into your neck and fucks you with his fingers, relishing in all your pants and needy moans. He bites your neck, unable to stop a moan as his tongue moves your skin, making sure to leave obvious marks that you'll have difficulty hiding. He runs his free hand over your torso, occasionally digging his nails into your skin and smiling wide when you shift uncomfortably in response.

He holds you tighter, poking and pinching at you, nipping and biting whatever skin he can comfortably get to as his fingers thrust into you.

When you inevitably wake up, the first thing you see is Roland's face with his signature grin and red eye glinting as his hand moves far faster than any humans could, and too fast for you to keep up. It's all you can do to cling onto him as loud, pitiful moans leave your pretty lips.

He can barely keep himself from laughing as he hears how the conversation the strangers outside were having was so abruptly, and awkwardly cut short. He leans in to kiss you between his giggling, he knows that a part of you is aware of how noisy you are and that you'd rather stop, but you always give him the best reactions when caught off guard.

"You're being too loud, darling. You've made the people outside stop their lovely little chat." He preens, delighting in how you can't even glare at him as you throw your head back into the pillow, beginning to shake in his arms.

Roland clicks his tongue and nibbles at your ear, chuckling in how he feels you clench and flutter around him, his free hand pinching your nipple as he watches your eyes roll and you let out a scream that rings in his ear like a bell. One that he'll gladly replay in his free time.

He helps you ride through your orgasm, whispering in your ear about what a lovely performance you just gave and how he made sure to record all of it.

He looks down between your legs and pulls his fingers out of you "Awww, my little rabbit made a mess of themself." He whispers condescendingly as he smears your come over your stomach. "And so loudly too, I bet everyone at this encampment heard."

"...Fuck you." He thinks you look so cute, all angry and pouty with a light sheen of sweat on you. He has to fight the urge to lick it off you.

"Fuck me?" He grabs your face, his fingers smooshing your cheeks as he leans in, a wide, cheshire grin decorating his face. "You should've said so earlier and I'd gladly let you."

Chrome would also take his time once inside your quarters, but unlike Roland he's a bit more...shy.

He came into your room for a reason, to look at you, to listen to your body as it repairs itself, and to touch you. But despite being bold enough to enter your room without asking permission from anyone, he finds himself lingering.

Rifling through your things and reorganizing them to be more efficient, reading your diary, or breaking into your terminal and perusing and private accounts you have. When he finally can't stand it anymore, he approaches your sleeping form- silently, and first brushes the side of your face with his fingers.

You were truly perfect. Always have been, in his eyes. He wishes constantly that he could find a way to make you see what he sees, if only you knew the thoughts that ran through his mind and made him go into a daze whenever you were around.

Under the guidance of the spell you had unconsciously put on him, his hands travel lower, nails scratching your neck as they find the collar of your shirt and rip it.

Not too loudly, of course. He wouldn't want someone else interrupting.

He gasps softly as your chest and stomach are laid bare for him, his fingers trail down the center of your chest before his large hands settle on either side of your waist, memorizing what it would look like to hold you and fuck you.

His hands crawl up to your chest, pressing and squeezing them lightly. He leans forward, lips parted and ready to latch around your nipple- and he pauses, blue, desperate eyes scanning your face.

You're not awake, but he really shouldn't regardless. But, god, he couldn't stop thinking about you all day. About pulling you away in the middle of your mission and into some old building and...

He closes his eyes momentarily, body trembling slightly.

He's waited long enough.

His lips close around your nipple, sucking on it greedily as he grips your sides tightly, gloves digging into your skin as his body presses against yours, being mindful to not crush with his weight, or let his metal legs poke you uncomfortably. He doesn't want you to wake, not yet, not now. Just give him a little more time.

He swirls your nipple on his tongue, pausing to- very gently, bite it. He sucks it a little more before separating with a small, wet pop and flicking his tongue over it.

He kisses his way down your chest and stomach, pausing only to pull down your pants before continuing his journey, kissing over your hips and thigh, before gently lifting your legs and spreading them apart, kissing his way to the inside of your thigh.

He quickly rids himself of his gloves and pulls you open for him, dipping his tongue inside you as his nose buries into you. He explores you first, his tongue sweeping over what it can comfortably reach before he begins to thrust and lick you with growing fervor.

His tongue drags over the roof of your inner walls, pulling back just so he can push himself deeper inside you. His bare hands hold your hips steady as he eats you out like a man starved, every whimper, every twitch, every subtle shift of your body spurs him on. He doesn't care that there are people outside, he doesn't care that he shouldn't be doing this, and he doesn't care if you wake up sore tomorrow- Oh god, does he want to make you wake up sore tomorrow.

He hopes he'll be the first to see you when you wake, so he can watch you as you wince and complain about how uncomfortable your bed must've been as you slowly crawl out of bed. Maybe you'd even ask for his help then, a little shyness in your request.

He pushes himself as far as he can go inside of you, his tongue working insatiably as he hears you moan and pant.

He can feel by the jerky movements of your hips and desperation in your voice that you're close and it makes him groan loudly and shudder, a hot, sticky warmth dripping down the inside of his pants.

His hands grope and massage at your ass and thighs as his head bobs between your legs, determined to make you come for him and let him taste your sweetness.

The sudden tightening of your muscles and blissed out moan that leaves your lips makes him feel like he's cloud nine, he eagerly abandons his previous task in favor of lapping up every drop of you.

He's so engrossed in licking you clean that he barely registers when you sleepily call out to him, sounding so confused.

"Oh, my dear." He groans and after a few more licks raises himself to look at you, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, a bright red painting his cheeks and ears. "Don't worry, I'm just helping you feel better."

He leans in and peppers kisses over your forehead and cheek, smiling when you try to move your head away from him. "Just sit tight, my love, I have a few more things I want to do and I know you'll like them too."

[tasteforambrosia]

Homecoming

Premise: Caleb has always had a dream, that the two of you could live together in your own little world, and how that he has power, he will do whatever he must to make that dream a reality. Pairing: Caleb x Reader Note: I'm fairly new to LADS, but I am FOAMING AT THE MOUTH FOR THIS MAN WOOF. I'm planning to continue this if people like it. :) CONTENT WARNING! Yandere, Stalking, Obsessive behaviour, Kidnapping, False Imprisonment.

After years and years of waiting for this day, Caleb’s plans were finally going to bear fruit.

From the very moment he had laid eyes on you, you had selfishly captured his heart and refused to let go. Even as a child he knew that he had to protect you from the horrors of this world and be the one to make you happy, and he had worked so hard that he could be the man to take care of you.

He studied hard so that he’d get a good job, he learned how to cook so that he could feed you and he was always there in case you needed anything. Caleb was the one who consoled you whenever you were sad or scared, and he was the one you went to in case of an emergency. He had all the cards in his hand to charm you, and it definitely did help that he was handsome, funny and athletic. In fact he had attracted quite the amount of women during his life, but he never even considered dating any of them, knowing that you were the only one for him and he was the only one for you.

Even when he had to fake his death and wound your fragile heart, he knew he could and would make it up to you in the future, when the time was right.

And today was the day he was going to fulfill his dreams and snatch you away and take you to his home in Skyhaven so that the two of you could live happily together in your own little world.

Unfortunately, being a colonel meant he was very busy, and unable to ‘retrieve’ you himself, which was something that greatly bothered him, but if it meant he’d have you safe in his home, he was willing to leave the dirty work to his men.

Caleb’s job ensured he had power and status, which meant arranging his own little special team was no problem, and that no one was going to question his actions and decisions.

At first, Caleb was hesitant to make his men collect you, not only did he want to do it himself, but there was also a chance someone would let the word spread and get the police involved. However, Caleb knew that he had earned the fleet’s respect and fear, and that if someone in the team did tell someone, no one would care or even believe them. And if Caleb was anything, he was a good judge of character, which meant his special team consisted only of the most talented and loyal soldiers.

The plan was efficient and simple, the soldiers were going to be waiting for you in the most quiet spot you passed on your route home, and when the time was right, Caleb’s little hunter was going to be dragged into a nondescript car and delivered to his home in Skyhaven. While he got no enjoyment in seeing you scared, a part of him wanted to see your expression as you’re dragged off to a destination unknown, and he had snuck a camera on the group leader’s badge so that he could immortalize this special day.

The biggest risk in the plan were your self-defense capabilities, since as a Hunter you were trained in various forms of combat, but of course Caleb had taken this into account and made sure his soldiers had multiple ways to restrain and sedate you.

Another risk factor in the plan was that annoying coworker of yours, since you and him were neighbours and often walked home together, but he had hacked into the association’s network and made sure that he would be too busy to walk with you. 

When Caleb first broke into your home and tagged almost everything you owned, he remembers how when he put in a chip so he could monitor your phone activities and how you seemed to have quite the amount of men hounding you, ranging from a childhood friend the two of you shared to a literal mafia boss. Caleb was not happy - not that he would’ve approved anyone except him by your side - especially when the men around you weren’t the stupid sort that were easily erasable .

Although most of them never noticed the tags, or the chip on your phone, Sylus was the one who found quite a significant amount of them, and being skilled with technology, made you more difficult to track.

But none of it was going to matter after today, since he had warned his men that you were most likely tracked by a third party and had equipped them with top of the art technology to deactivate any and all devices on you. 

Caleb was so close to achieving the dream he had since he was little, and that fact made him smirk as he sat down in his office. At first you’d surely resist, and he’d have to chain you by the ankle to make sure you couldn't leave, but you were a smart girl, you’d learn to adapt and embrace your situation, and eventually when you start to behave he’d give you more and more freedoms. And if you ever were to try to escape, well… He loved a chase, and just like when you played tag as kids, he would always catch you in the end.

As his phone dinged with the confirmation that his team was in the correct spot and ready to act, Caleb pulled out a picture from his pocket. It was the day he graduated from Aerospace Academy and a photographer took a picture of the two of you. 

You were so sly on that day, blatantly kissing him in front of his peers as if to claim him as your own. That day only confirmed that you felt something for him too, and that the two of you were destined to be together no matter how much fate tried to tear you apart.

Another ding from his phone informed him that you were moving towards the predetermined location.

“Soon, pipsqueak. Soon we’ll be together again.”

The day has finally come.