Part 8 (1/2)
At precisely 11AM, the phone in Sir George Sterling's suite rang
He was still so and the span of 10 tis Benedict was exquisite, but Aain
He casually picked it up
”Good et a pencil and paper You have fifteen seconds and then I will continue” It was the saht there at the phone so he waited through 14 seconds of silence ”Very good Please check out of the hotel and pay cash Proceed to the San Francisco airport and from a pay phone, call 5-5-5-3-4-5-6 at 1 PM Have a note book and two pens with you Good Bye ”
The annoying dial tone returned What a bloody waste of time
At 1PM he called the nuured that since he was to have a notebook and pens he ht need to write for a while, so he used one of the phone booths that pro- vides a seat and large writing surface
”Good afternoon Sir George In ten seconds, your instructions will begin” Again, that sa to him now Isn't that the hen you can't respond The voice continued ”Catch the next flight to New York City Stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Grand Central Sta- tion on 42nd Street and Park Avenue Not a suite this tie was startled at Alex's attention to detail
”You will stay there for fourteen days On 56th street and Madison avenue is a school called CTI, Coo to CTI and enroll in the following classes: DOS, that's D-O-S for beginners, Intermediate DOS and Advanced DOS You will also take WordPerfect I and II Lastly, and most importantly you will take all three classes on Tele-Coht class- es will take you ten days to coet to pay in cash I will now pause for ten seconds” Alex riting furi- ously Computers? He was scared silly of them Not that he had ever had the opportunity or the need or the desire to use thenorance But if this meant he could keep the 25,000 he would do it What the hell
”After you enroll, go to 45 West 47th street to a store called Discount Co equip RAM That's 8 M-E-G R- A-M and ask for a high resolution color h speed modem, M-O-D-E-M Do not, I repeat, do not purchase a printer of any type No printers Sir George You are never to use a printer Ever Lastly, you will purchase a copy of Word Perfect and Crosstalk If you wish any games for your amusement, that is up to you When you have completed your studies you will call 212-555-6091 Do not call that number before you have coe was just writing, not coibberish
”Sir George” The feot serious, very serious for the first time in their relationshi+p ”You are to speak to no one, I repeat, no one, of the nature of your business, the manner in which you receive instructions, or why computers have a sudden interest for you Otherwise our deal is off and your advance will be expected to be returned Ae responded quickly, ”Yes!” before seeing the lunacy of answering a ain ”Learn your lessons well for you will need the knowledge to perfore Sterling” The line went dead
George Toft took his coa the work It was new, and exciting His only social distractions were the sex shops on Ti they weren't, so s Besides, there was a massive amount of homework bloody hell, back to school
He excelled in his studies which pleased George a great deal In fact e's computer classes ex- celled The teachers were very pleased to have a group of stu- dents that actually progressed e from the E Train Bimbos from Queens
The computer teachers didn't know that a vast ood reason to study hard Most of them had received their own 25,000 scholarshi+ps
Sunday, Septeo, California
WTFO
the computer screen displayed That was hackerese, borrowed froreeting that offended no one
Back on Summer finals are over Everyone still there?
BOOM'S STILL AT UCLA, I JUST TALKED TO CRACKER, MAD MAX, ALPHA, SCROLLER, MR MAGICWE MISSED YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO A GOOD VACATE?
Yeah, 4 days before next terot the key to the NPPS NASA node?
THEY CLOSED IT AGAIN WE'RE STILL LOOKING WE WERE BACK INTO AMEX, THOUGH CLEANED UP A FEW DEBTS FOR UNSUSPECTING CARD MEMBERS HAPPY LABOR DAY TO THEM GOOD FUN