Redeeming The Golden Ticket To Life

[POV Feling]

After taking care of that Lt. General, it was now time to search for the real bug. There has to be someone behind the scenes who has orchestrated the whole shenanigan. There has to be someone responsible for the leak. 

My mind went through various scenarios one after another and the only weak joint of this whole collaboration was from that Lt. General's side.

I contemplated everything possible and the only conclusion that I could draw was the involvement of CEO Hu, in all this mess.

There has to be that guy involved to mess with my mission to this extent.

After dealing with general Han for the past few days I feel I require to lay back and look out for myself.

The pots have been stirred too much.

I walked towards my housing facility. As I walked in, I walked towards the server. A few things have been bugging me like, how did the Hu corporation get hold of Lt. General's server as I did maintenance for his server personally?

I guess it is time for some debugging and troubleshooting.

Computer programmers are bombarded with various jargon and terminology. Experienced programmers have learned how to work with these terms. Beginning programmers become frustrated and confused. To some degree, it's a rite of passage in the programming world. It separates the wheat from the chaff.

Troubleshooting and debugging are two concepts that programmers need to learn and distinguish between. You not only need to understand the two terms but understand how they differ and know the common traits they share. Programmers will spend more time with debugging than with troubleshooting. However, their enhanced operational duties will cause them to troubleshoot more frequently.

Troubleshooting is a process that helps people identify issues or problems occurring in a system. Troubleshooting tends to exist at a higher level than debugging and applies to many components of a system. It's a process of parsing out the items that are causing problems. This process requires interviewing the end-users of the system to find out the steps they took to cause the problems.

Debugging is a subset of troubleshooting. It requires finding problems as they relate to computer code. As a programmer, when you are tasked with debugging a module of code, you find what is causing the problem and then fix it. This is an oversimplification. There may be several points of failure, and sometimes it's not obvious where the problems are occurring. For example, you may be led to believe that the JavaScript code in a browser is failing, when in fact it's a web server issue. The process is abstracted when many of your servers exist in a third-party cloud environment, which brings new sets of challenges.

I started with my own server, I start with coming through my cloud storage, then my physical storage. The pathways linking them. I continue to work on it but there is no problem revealed as of yet. I have my routine when it comes to keeping back up and working on regular system checks.

I ran my pre-programmed files and then walked towards the kitchen counter to boil some water. I looked into the cupboard and found a packet of ramen noodles. At least the evening snacks are done.

I fixed myself a bowl of ramen noodles and topped them with soft boiled eggs.

After fixing me a snack bowl I walk towards my monitors and systems. The files have conducted their checks, there are no red flags. 

'So it must be a problem from Lt. Generals side,' I concluded.

I checked his web server logs as well as history to search for any troublesome malware and bugs getting introduced into his system.

It is like every time you click on a link or type in a URL and press Enter, your browser sends a request to the web server for the site you're trying to access. The server receives and processes the request, and then sends back the relevant resources along with an HTTP header.

HTTP status codes are delivered to your browser in the HTTP header. While status codes are returned every single time your browser requests a web page or resource, most of the time you don't see them.

It's usually only when something goes wrong that you might see one displayed in your browser. This is the server's way of saying: "Something isn't right. Here's a code that explains what went wrong."

HTTP status codes are divided into 5 "classes". These are groupings of responses that have similar or related meanings. Knowing what they are can help you quickly determine the general substance of a status code before you go about looking up its specific meaning.

The five classes include:

100s: Informational codes indicating that the request initiated by the browser is continuing.

200s: Success codes returned when browser request was received, understood, and processed by the server.

300s: Redirection codes returned when a new resource has been substituted for the requested resource.

400s: Client error codes indicating that there was a problem with the request.

500s: Server error codes indicating that the request was accepted, but that an error on the server prevented the fulfilment of the request.

Within each of these classes, a variety of server codes exist and may be returned by the server. Each code has a specific and unique meaning.

There are various easy to approach steps to make an onsite check, that is, 

When using a web browser to test a web server, refresh the browser after making server changes

Check server logs for more details about how the server is handling the requests. For example, web servers such as Apache or Nginx produce two files called access.log and error.log that can be scanned for relevant information

Keep in mind that HTTP status code definitions are part of a standard that is implemented by the application that is serving requests. This means that the actual status code that is returned depends on how the server software handles a particular error.

As I sieve through all the data I find two suspicious caches. They are well camouflaged in the massive data, if not look out for it; it is impossible to even catch a glimpse of it or even know its existence. As the caches are programmed to destroy itself organically after some time.

"Whoever planted this malware is a f**king genius. Makes me want to meet him/her face to face. Is it you, CEO Hu?" I thought aloud to myself.

[Beep Beep Beep Beep]

An obscure mechanical alarm started to blare in my room. I look around the apartment once. Then I walked towards the windows to look outside.

[Beep Beep Beep Beep]

The mechanical alarm continued blaring.

I walked to my server system and switched it off without any hesitation.

I look around again and see if everything is in order or not?

I walked towards my bed and then pulled out a trunk from underneath.

The sound of the mechanical alarm became a little louder.

I opened the trunk and inside was a customised laptop for only specific users. I pulled it out and opened it. The screen immediately turned neon purple in colour and then a mechanical voice spoke up,

"Simon says, hi."

"Hello," I replied.

"Simon says, why late?"

"Checking out the surroundings for added precaution," I replied. I have long gotten used to this mode of communication. 

"Simon says, are you up for a game?"

"What game?" I asked. I couldn't help but flinch as the last time it asked the same question I was asked to torture that girl Shui Bai Chang, almost four years back.

"Simon says, What happened to the girl? Why is she alive?"

"She was in a coma with no chance of survival, her case of recovery is nothing short of a miracle," I replied.

"Simon says, keep an eye out on the girl. Is she still autistic?"

"No sir, she is mentally healthy but amnesic".

"Simon says, is it permanent or temporary?"

"From all her medical records from all available and hidden sources, it appears to be a permanent case of memory loss".

"Simon says, keep a sharp lookout on her, she is dangerous".

I raised my eyebrows, 

(What is it about her that even Simon seems to be at the edge of his seat? What is the matter with this girl? Who is she? Or most importantly what does she possess with her to make her a target of that organisation.)

"Simon says if possible repeat the last assignment if you get a clear shot, kidnap her and then let us know. After the interrogation, kill her and dispose of her body. She has now turned into a dangerous variable."

"Yes sir," I replied.

The mechanical voice took a long pause. I thought that that is it and was about to disconnect the communication line when the machine blared up again,

"Simon says, from now on, report your movements every month and report all your actions and steps taken against that girl Shui Bai Chang".

"Yes, si-"

As I replied to the said command the other side had already terminated the communication line.