Part 94 (2/2)

”Get to the bottom of this before Mason does”

Chapter 19

Thursday, January 7 A Scott aithout telephone intervention by the front desk He felt a little on the slow side, an observa- tion he attributed to either the ti, or the minor after effect of copius cannabis consue called a cab and Scott told the driver where he thought he was going Ya, no problem, it's a short ride

To Scott's surprise he found hi by the sa Scott reminded himself to ask Spook hoent The taxi stopped in front of an old building that had no signs of use It was number 44, but just in case, Scott asked the driver to wait ano bell, rapped on the heavy wooden door

”Ya?” A h the door

”Is Jon there? This is Scott Mason” Scott knowingly looked at the cab driver

”Who?”

Scott looked at the nuain and then remembered what Jon had told him ”Sorry This is Repo Man Kirk said you'd expect me”

”Ah, ya! Repo Man” The door opened and Scott happily waved off the cab ”Welcome, please, come in” Scott entered a dark chamber as the door closed behind hiht Scott ”Thanks for the invite Is Jon here?”

”Everyone is here”

”I thought it didn't begin until eleven,” Scott said looking at his watch

”Ah, ya, well,” the Dutch accented Clay said ”It is difficult to stop soht”

Scott followed Clay up a darkened flight of steps At eon-like atmosphere vanished Inside the cavernous roo and huddling over co was liberally dressed with fluorescent tubing which accentuated the green hues from many of the computer monitors The walls were raw brick and the sparse decorations were all co added enough daylight to take soreen aura

”What should I do?” Asked Scott looking around the large room which was probably overcrowded byDutchman said he will see you a little later,” Clay said ”Many of our members know Repo Man is a reporter, and you are free to look and ask anything Please enjoy yourself” Clay quickly disappeared into the congregation

Scott suddenly felt abandoned and wished he could disappear

Like those dreams where you find yourself stark naked in a public place He felt that his computer naivete ritten all over his face and he would be judged thus, so instead he tried to ignore it by perusing the walls He became amused at the selec- tion of art, poster art, Scotch taped to the brick

The first poster had Daffy Duck, or reasonable facsiehammer in contact with a keyboard ”Hit any key to continue,” was the sie Another portrayed a cobweb covered skeleton sitting behind a co a pertinent question ”Syste?”

One of the ruder posters consisted of Ronald Reagan with a super- iesture The poster was entitled, ”Coallery, not a hackers convention He openly laughed when he saw a poster fro division of the National Security Agency A red, white and blue Uncle Sa, beckoned, ”We want YOU! to secure your computer” In an open white space on the poster someone wrote in, ”Please list name and date if you have already cracked into an NSA co list of Hacker Handles with the dates they had entered the super secret agency's cos really that bad, Scott asked himself

”Repo Man?”

Scott turned quickly to see a large, barrel chested, red haired man with an untamed beard in his early forties approach hiait Scott answered, ”Yes?

”Ya, I' voice ”Welcoorously shook Scott's hand with a wide smile hidden behind the bushy red face ”You enjoyed Aht, ya?” He expected a positive answer sex was no crime here

”Well,” Scott blushed ”I must say it was a unique experience,”