At 01:07 AM 4/25/97 -0500, stormwalker@airmail.net wrote:

    "So... have you ever done any hacking for money, or just fun
stuff?"
    "Well... never for money," Nene smiled impishly, "but I
can't claim to have gotten nothing out of it."
    "Such as?"
    "Well... the government thinks I'm two years older than I
really am."

Actually, they think she's 3 years older than she is.  Sylia recruited her
in 2031, when she was 17 (so ADP would think she was 20 then)

    "I'm sorry... I overslept.  Would you mind waiting upstairs
while I take a quick shower?"
    "Not at all," he smiled.  "You know, you're pretty even when
you're not trying to be."
    She blushed.  "Thanks."  Leading him into her room, she
said, "I'll be out in a few minutes."
    "Ok, I'm sure I can entertain myself that long," he grinned,
taking a seat.  As soon as she had closed the bathroom door
behind her, he was at the computer.
    <Let's see,> he thought.  <All hackers have little tidbits
filed away somewhere...>  Quickly, he set to work.  With a little
luck, he might just find a clue to the puzzle box that was Nene
Romanova.

This almost sounds like he planned on her oversleeping so he could snoop in
her machine. I'm sure that's not what you intended, but that's the way it
came across to me.

                            * * *
    Nene silently cursed herself for oversleeping, knowing that
Michael had made special plans for tonight.  Still, he didn't
seem too upset, so apparently there was not in too much of a
rush.
    Hurriedly setting the water temperature, she jumped into the
shower.  Time to be quick...

Scanning ahead into the chapter, he gets an awful lot done while she's
taking a "quick" shower, even if she does daydream a bit.  It doesn't take
all that long to take a shower, you know.  Yet in that very short period of
time, you've got him finding hidden directories, breaking into encrypted
files (btw - does Nene have any security at all on her home machine?  Not
even password protection?), READING files... all sorts of stuff that would
take TIME.

    <Ah, here we go,> Michael thought as the hidden drive's
directory listing came up.  It was relatively cryptic, though
he'd come to understand Nene well and was able to make sense from
it. <Now this looks interesting...,> he smiled, opening up an
encrypted file.

Doesn't he have to break the encryption before he can open an encrypted file?

    <Knight Sabers?  Nene?> Michael stared at the screen in
shock.  There before him was his answer... the secret of Nene,
and what a secret it was!

Sylia would have Nene's head for keeping KS files on her home machine (I'm
assuming there's more than just the want-ad there).  Nene uses Sylia's
machines for her KS hacking, anyway.

And wouldn't Sylia be smart enough to put a 'self-destruct' onto her Want-Ad
in the first place? It's got *her* face on it, after all, and it
specifically ties her to the KS.  (why Sylia would be dumb enough to put
"Welcome to the Knight Sabers" on an electronic want-ad is beyond me)

    He wasn't sure how to react to this... emotions warred for
control.  He was jealous of her ability; she was clearly the
superior hacker.  He feared her now, and his knowledge put him in
danger.  Shock gripped him as he realized how badly he'd
underestimated her... not his equal, she was clearly a level
above him in everything.  He... could never have her for his own.

Hmm....  Mr. Michael must be involved with the bad guys, eh?

    This realization stung him, and a cold, silent anger
enveloped his heart, smothering the affection which resided
there. <How could she...>

How could *SHE*?  HE's the snoop!



Jeanne Hedge
http://www.accsyst.com/jhedge/

Assistant SysOp
Compuserve Anime/Manga Forum