Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

"Would you believe me if I said I hadn't seen those documents?"

The thin lips, hidden in shadow on the upper half of his face, twitched slightly before he spoke. The thin-lipped man wasn't from the prosecutor's office; Bartmore later learned he was from the KGB's 16th Bureau.

The KGB attached great importance to the case after the General Secretary briefed them on it.

If an ordinary computer enthusiast living in a basement in Minsk could, with just a Soviet-made personal computer and a telephone line, infiltrate the servers of Moscow State University and obtain temporary caches of the General Secretary's office documents—

What about the Americans?

The CIA certainly possesses world-class computer equipment, highly trained technical experts, and signals intelligence specialists! What if they were doing the same thing?

A large amount of Soviet military data, top-secret documents, strategic communications... all flowed on military networks. Although the military facilities and civilian information facilities were two separate sets of physical hardware when the information infrastructure was built, there were a small number of information exchange nodes between the two systems!

Before the advent of the internet age, the United States had experienced incidents where ordinary people successfully stole military information via the internet, and the KGB knew that this was because they were behind it.

In 1986, West German hacker Markus Hess, employed by the KGB, successfully stole U.S. military and industrial secrets. Hess used a gateway at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California as a springboard to gain root access to the laboratory's computer systems, and then used this connection to successfully infiltrate ARPANET and MILNET (U.S. military networks).

Hess used this method to hack into approximately 400 U.S. military computers, including mainframes at the Pentagon. The stolen intelligence covered a wide range of sensitive areas, including semiconductors, satellites, space, and aircraft technology. The KGB paid him approximately $54000 for his services. However, his hacking activities were discovered by a lab system administrator in 1986 due to a 75-cent billing error, leading to his arrest by the FBI.

P.S.: This guy is a legendary hacker.

If this network's security couldn't even stop an amateur Minsk geek, then the Soviet Union's currently thriving internet would probably have to be temporarily shut down for a while.

National security is of paramount importance.

The prosecutors initially thought they had caught a big fish, a spy who had infiltrated the General Secretary's information system. Perhaps it was trained by the CIA, perhaps by MI6, or even, of course, by Zhong Guoan.

Thin-lipped stood up, walked to Bartmouth's chair, and began to apply pressure.

What are your chat logs implying?

Barthemos: "I didn't—"

What are you alluding to?

"I just—"

What are you being sarcastic about?

“I’m not being sarcastic—”

What are you trying to say?

"I was just arguing on the forum—"

What do you want to guide?

I really didn't—

What do you want to overthrow?

"what?"

"What was your purpose in posting those chat logs? Who instructed you to post them? Who is the organization behind you?"

Barthemos had never seen anything like this before. He was a tech geek who loved to trash talk online, capable of unleashing a torrent of abuse during forum arguments—but that was all behind the keyboard!

The courage behind the keyboard was worthless in the KGB interrogation room. He immediately confessed everything, including his motives and methods. He was quite proud when talking about his most familiar area of ​​methods, believing that the KGB's firewall in terms of network security had no effect on him at all. He only became quiet after the KGB tapped the table with his handcuffs.

He later even talked about bedwetting when he was a child. Once a person gets nervous and starts talking, they can't stop, and everything just spills out.

"I wet the bed when I was five! My mom took me to the doctor three times because of it! Later I got better—I swear I'm not a spy! I'm just a programmer, I've never even been abroad. I swear to God, I swear to my mentor on the wall that I am loyal to the Alliance and the Party!"

The interrogation lasted two days. In those forty-eight hours, the KGB thoroughly investigated Razi Bartholomew's entire life.

His father was a factory worker in Minsk, and his mother was a kitchen helper in the school cafeteria—an ordinary Soviet working-class family.

As for his education—he graduated from a vocational high school and taught himself programming. After working at a machine manufacturing plant in Minsk for over a year, he quit because he found it too tiring and started taking on freelance work.

He had no suspicious foreign connections and had never been in contact with any foreigners—apart from a few Finnish and East German netizens on the forum, his circle of friends consisted of a few geek friends who frequented the forum like him.

As for the political leanings that the prosecutor's office is most concerned about—there are none.

Barthes' entire understanding of politics comes from forum posts and newspaper headlines (he admits he only reads the headlines, not the text). He is not a liberal, establishment, or reformist, and his political views on a particular event are basically determined by what news headlines and commentaries he saw ten minutes earlier.

Ultimately, the KGB sent its investigation findings to the prosecutor's office and the Kremlin:

"Razi Bartmos was a politically clean Soviet citizen. He was not a spy or a member of any anti-Party or anti-Soviet organization. He infiltrated the General Secretary's information system simply because he got into a heated argument on a forum and decided to open a box against his opponent—and accidentally opened the box against the person who was least in the Soviet Union."

Soon, an instruction was sent back from above.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

24 hours later, Bartmores saw those thin lips again.

But this time the scene was different. The interrogation room was heated, and the lighting was much softer. Thin-lipped people walked in and handed Bartmouth a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of sandwiches.

"Sir, I've confessed everything I need to tell you, please don't kill me!"

Bartmore thought this was his last meal before execution. Damn it, he knew it!

There are many rumors circulating on the forum that Foreign Minister Ivanova looks kind but is actually petty, and that the General Secretary has become petty since he got together with her. He shouldn't have both of them provoked at the same time!

"Relax, relax, have something to eat first," Fang Xiaba from the prosecutor's office comforted him.

To Bartmores, it was like telling a turkey, "It won't hurt, it'll be over in a minute," before killing it for Christmas.

He took the cup of hot chocolate with trembling hands, his teeth chattering and rattling against the porcelain rim, which amused Fang Xiajia.

“Comrade Bartholomew, don’t worry too much. You still have a chance to redeem yourself,” he said.

Upon hearing this, Bartmos immediately stopped shaking and quickly wolfed down the sandwich in a few bites.

In Soviet legal terminology, "citizen" was the term for the person being interrogated, while "little comrade" was at least a more friendly term.

"In short! After investigation, we have confirmed that you are not a foreign spy nor belong to any anti-Soviet organization. You are a politically innocent Soviet citizen."

Barthemos almost burst into tears, whether from choking or from the overwhelming emotion of surviving a near-death experience, he couldn't tell.

“But!” The thin lips’ voice turned slightly colder.

"What you did—illegally infiltrated national information network facilities, illegally obtained top-secret national documents, and leaked the personal information of personnel with access to classified information on public forums... any one of these things alone is enough to put you in a military court."

"According to current laws, those who illegally intrude into national information systems will face five to fifteen years in prison, those who steal top-secret documents will face ten to twenty years, and those who leak critical information about personnel with significant access to state secrets and endanger national security will face an additional five to ten years, to be served concurrently—"

He paused for a moment and gave Bartmos a look.

"At least thirty years. The military court has sentenced you to a labor camp in Siberia, effective immediately!"

Bartmore's face turned green, the same color as the walls of the interrogation room.

“But if you’re willing to make technical contributions to the league, we can reduce your sentence.” He pushed a document in front of Barthemos.

Bartmore looked at the document.

His thin lips moved in a much more relaxed tone, as if he were chatting with an acquaintance, with a hint of appreciation on his face: "Our KGB's 16th Bureau's technical experts have carefully studied the methods you used to infiltrate the Moscow State University server."

The KGB's 16th Directorate was responsible for signals intelligence and communications security, and was the Soviet Union's top technical intelligence agency.

He smiled slightly: "They commented that your technical skills are very sophisticated, both in attacking our systems and in defending your own information. If you hadn't called the Moscow State University Information Office and we had obtained your coordinates, we estimate it would have taken us a very long time to find you."

Bartmos initially thought Slava was just an ordinary student and that he could easily scare him—if he had spent more time investigating the hacking system before deciding to scare Slava instead of resorting to social engineering to save time, he would never have provoked the General Secretary!

He gave an awkward laugh.

"The experts at the Sixteenth Bureau unanimously agree that it would be a huge waste to put someone like you in a labor camp and have you move bricks for thirty years. The Soviet Union's information network security is now a huge weak point for the KGB—and you yourself have proven that. We need people, we need people who understand technology. We need people like you who can find system vulnerabilities to protect the country's information security... or to steal classified information from the Pentagon."

"Personally, I hope you can bring your talents to the KGB and join us."

He pushed the document further toward Bartmore.

"If you are willing to join the cybersecurity team of the 16th Bureau, you will have a formal position and a formal salary, and your case can be 'treated leniently'. The specific conditions are written in this document."

"I...I...I do!" Bartmos exclaimed, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon.

“Alright, it’s a pleasure to meet you, young comrade Bartholomew. You can call me Jeliman Khorenovich Gerdrian,” Fang said, standing up.

"Please sign a letter of repentance first, and then post it on the forum and issue a public apology."

"Should I directly point out the General Secretary's name?"

The two people in front of him were smiling at him.

The confession was very simple. After signing it, he immediately logged into his account using the terminal provided to him by the KGB and posted it online.

The number of replies started to surge within three minutes of the post being published.

User "Minsk Metro Last Train":

"A Public Apology to All Users of the Vicher Forum"

Fellow forum members:

My name is Razi Bartmos, and my online name is "Minsk Metro Last Train".

Due to a recent dispute with some users on the forum, I recently used technical means to illegally infiltrate the information network system of Moscow State University, obtained personal files without authorization, violated citizens' privacy, and publicly disclosed the personal information involved in the aforementioned files in forum posts.

The above actions seriously violated the relevant laws and regulations on information security of the Soviet Union, posed a significant potential threat to the security of the national information infrastructure, and caused serious harm to the parties whose information was leaked.

I hereby express my deepest apologies to all forum users and those involved. I fully recognize that this behavior, regardless of the motive, is an infringement on the privacy and personal safety of others. I guarantee that I will never engage in any unauthorized cyber infiltration activities again, never perform any "boxing" on anyone, and will actively cooperate with the relevant departments in their subsequent investigations and handling.

I bear full legal responsibility for my actions.

—Razi Bartomos

November 1992, 7"

1st floor: ? He's alive? He's actually alive? ? ?

2nd floor: Congratulations to the last train for winning the revival match - wait, did you really write this yourself? If you've been kidnapped by Brother Xiong offline, type 1 and we'll call the police for you.

3rd Floor: Good grief, I'm already writing your eulogy, and you're telling me you're still alive? What was the point of all that writing? Could you please re-open @AAAFiveYearPlanWritingSisterLong's account?

4th Floor: Wait, wait, wait... whose box did he open? Didn't he open a Mo University student's box last time? It feels like he leaked confidential documents.

5th floor: Don't ask anymore.

6th floor: Everyone, please stop discussing this. Seriously.

7th floor: Why can't we discuss this? Who exactly was fired?

8th floor: Think about what level of event would make someone disappear for two days and then come out to post this kind of thing.

9th Floor: ...Oh my god, it's getting dark in Moscow, I'm not playing anymore, I'm logging off. I hereby declare that I have never slandered Brother Xiong in any way, please leave me alone! #@￥! iyu

10th floor: This guy's sliding speed is faster than the Minsk Metro. Did Xiong Ge develop the backend?

11th floor: That Xiong Ge is really fierce.

12th Floor: I noticed a detail. He said he would actively cooperate with the relevant departments' follow-up investigation and handling, but he's already posting. That means the investigation has already concluded, yet he's still being allowed to continue on the forum. What kind of operation is this?

13th floor: They've been recruited. Classic example: The late emperor did not consider his subjects lowly and despicable.

14th floor: LOL, most people just block each other when they argue, but this guy almost ended up in Siberia because of his argument.

...

Then, Gerdrian took out something else—a brown paper document bag.

"Your superiors want you to see this personally. They said you should keep it after you've seen it, and then pack your things and get ready to come to work here tomorrow."

Bartmoslazi took the document bag and tore open the seal.

It was an A4-sized piece of paper with the emblem of the Soviet Prosecutor General's Office in the upper left corner and the date July 20, 1992, printed in the upper right corner—the very day the incident occurred.

File title:

Arrest warrant

Number __

Authorized by the Prosecutor General's Office of the USSR, and in accordance with Article ____ of the USSR Criminal Code, the following citizens are hereby arrested:

Name: Lazi Bartomos

Date of birth: March 14, 1968

Address: Basement of apartment building, No. 14, 7th Avenue, Lenin District, Minsk

Charges: Illegally intruding into national information network infrastructure; illegally obtaining top-secret national documents; leaking personal information of personnel with access to classified information.

Issued by: AAA Arrest Warrant Wholesaler Xiong Ge

The printed issuer's pseudonym is followed by a handwritten signature: Velikoslav Ivanovich Ivanov

Prosecutor Gerdrian stood by, looking at the ridiculous arrest warrant with a wry smile, while Bartmores didn't know whether to laugh or keep quiet.

"This young General Secretary of the Alliance is quite active in private." He patted Bartommos on the shoulder, while the director of the KGB's 16th Bureau handed over a small red book, which was Bartommos's identification.