Page 24 of The Honeymoon Hack
Because we had two last night? Because you’ve been so busy thinking about all the lying and scheming you’ll be doing that you hadn’t considered what posing as a married couple really meant?
The condoms and negligee in your bag should have clued you in, Brie. So should all of Scarlett’s reminders about looking like a couple.
“It’s not the Ritz, but it’s home for the next two weeks,” Claire said. “There’s a remote for the display on the far wall, which has several window-like modes. The Wi-Fi password is on the desk. Fair warning, though—we have an AI that monitors our network traffic. It’s programmed to detect potential security breaches or data leaks.”
“AI, huh?” Was I convincing? Or was it obvious I already knew?
“It’s fairly new, and we’re still testing it out. It scans for keywords and patterns that it flags as potential security risks, and has thus far produced fewer false positives than the oldfirewall. It’s not like someone’s reading your emails, but if you’re planning to share company secrets…” Claire grinned, signaling a joke was coming. “You might want to find another way.”
Yeah. About that, Claire. We’ve already got some plans.
Chapter 9
Will
“What kindof pattern recognition does the AI use?” Brie asked, her genuine interest no doubt conflicting with a need for intel. “Is it based on natural language processing or more of a machine learning thing you fed a gazillion scenarios into? Would a VPN fool it?”
Claire tilted her head, suspicion flickering across her face.
Careful, Bug. Don’t push too fast.
“You are such a security nerd.” I pulled her tight to me, then turned to Claire. “Sometimes I have to hide her laptop just to get her attention.”
Brie snort-laughed. “That happened exactly once, and you promised never to do it again.”
Claire’s features softened. Crisis averted. “I’ll let you two get settled. Take an hour to unpack, and I’ll swing by to give you the full tour.”
“Thanks,” I said, as she headed for the door. “We appreciate it.”
She halted halfway out the door. “Oh, before I forget—make sure you both install the Mnemis app on your phones. It has facility maps, your shift schedules, and security clearanceupdates. It’s required to take your phones past the inner security checkpoint. Without it, you’ll have to leave them behind.”
“We can keep our phones inside the data center itself?” That was unexpected.
“If the app’s running, yes. Scan the QR code in your welcome packet. It only takes a few minutes to configure everything.”
Once the door closed behind her, Brie and I struck up a casual conversation, discussing our travel plans for when our rotation ended and remarking on how nice the room was.
Looking pointedly at Brie, I said, “Sweetheart, did you pack my white noise machine?”
“It’s under your socks,” she said, exactly as we’d planned.
I unzipped my suitcase and pulled out a small device the size of a deck of cards. When I switched it on, a small LED lit up, and it began to emit a low shushing noise. It was another of my custom designs, specifically created to scramble the feed of any hidden cameras.
She withdrew a compact mirror from her own bag. Once it had authenticated her thumbprint, she moved it over electrical outlets and fixtures. I switched my watch’s charging dock into its hidden analysis mode and did the same as Brie.
We worked in silence, checking every corner, vent, light fixture, and piece of furniture for listening devices. After fifteen minutes of thorough inspection, I caught Brie’s eye and gave a slight nod, which she returned. The room was clear.
“I’ll keep the white noise machine on,” I said at normal volume. “Helps me sleep, plus it’ll help mask our conversations from anyone outside.”
“Good thinking.” Brie sat and pulled her laptop from her backpack. “I want to try connecting to the Wi-Fi with our VPN on, but ten-to-one odds the Wi-Fi rejects it.”
“I reset my laptop to factory defaults last night,” I said, setting up at my own desk, next to hers. Most of the room’sfurniture was standard hotel fare, but the desks and chairs? Those were for career computer users. The chair was an ultra-posh gamer’s chair, with excellent ergonomics. “They really haven’t spared any expense for the staff, have they?”
“I set up two security levels on mine.” She paused before opening her laptop. “The main partition connects to their Wi-Fi. It looks normal—browsing history, work documents—stuff they’d expect to see if they ever checked. The second partition is completely isolated and encrypted—that’s where I’ve stored all our mission materials, shell company data, and where I’ll compile evidence and prep any tools we need.”
“Give me access to the secure partition?”
“Your face already unlocks my laptop and phone.”
