Page 35 - SurprisingTruthSample

Nicholas Boothman
He needed a delivery system that was immune to
spin. He needed partners who spoke the machine’s
language.
His first target was a ghost named 'Null.' Null was a
legend in the dark corners of the deep web, famous for
dissolving the digital presence of abusive dating apps
and predatory debt collectors. Henry had heard
rumors that Null operated out of a forgotten data
center beneath an old university library.
Henry tracked him down the old-fashioned way: by
following the crumbs of compromised network
security patches and the distinct, highly stylized
encryption pattern Null used, a pattern Henry
recognized from a small, specialized, and expensive
security conference he’d once paid attention to.
He found Null in a sub-basement bunker that
smelled of dust and cold pizza. Null wasn't some
brooding genius in a hoodie; Null was Lina, a woman
in her early twenties with neon-blue hair, surgical-
grade focus, and a worn-out ergonomic keyboard that
looked like it had survived a war.
“You’re Henry,” she said. “The integrity guy. You
build the boxes they hide the truth in.”
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