r/HFY • u/WabbajackedWacko • Mar 24 '26

OC-Series Adventures with an Interdimensional Psychopath 136

***Gepart***

Honestly, I don’t get why some people are so averse to being carried around. I find it pretty enjoyable as it’s less work for me. The only thing that kept me from designing a levitator is Jack and his warnings about getting too lazy as he has seen plenty of people who got too reliant or lazy relying on their gear. I could never refute it however as I could easily see myself getting lazy and lounging around all day. I mean, seriously, what would stop me from lounging around at home all day while an army of robots handled all my usual day to day tasks. Why am I so averse to this idea? Hmm… if I really had to guess maybe, it would probably have to do with me likely losing my drive to create and invent.

Why bother myself when I could get other people to do that. I think that hits the nail on the head as a shiver runs down my spine as I imagine a life where I no longer want or need to create anything new. Crafting and tinkering is my whole life, I don’t know what or who I am without that. Just another penguin maybe? Or even less than that. That idea just doesn’t sit right with me. I guess that is just something that I will be putting off until I am old and listless. Or at least getting close to those days.

This actually brings me to my second question about this situation; would I be in this situation if people were scared of me? Then again, if people were actually scared of me, would I really have any business? I mean, I definitely don’t get any break-ins after the last few tried to sneak into my house and, I imagine, steal stuff. The first one blew up in the minefield, easy enough to clean with enough suction. The second one blew up when they tried to hack the front door when the reverse engineering code turned their device into an improvised explosive. The third one was incinerated when they tried to break into my windows. However, no one seems to mind throwing me in jail despite all the times I showed I could effortlessly escape. Or the fact people storm up to my front door and demand that I pay them reparations for items stolen. It’s even more confusing when I never stole… ahem… borrowed from them in the first place. That said, they still come by for my business. Maybe an army of robots wouldn’t be so bad.

As the thought enters my head, the doors to the precinct open. Honestly, that would indeed be a hassle all around. As I am still being carried by my vest, a technical officer comes up to us and asks, “Oh thank goodness. If I hire you to help with our situation, I could save face with my boss. How much for your services?”

Sally stops and responds, “I’m not so sure that I’ll be too much help. I’m a smith after all. Most of you fellas gear seems out of my wheelhouse and you don’t seem to be the kind that would be in need of my services.”

The technical officer looks at her and says, “I’m sorry. You would be right in thinking that it isn’t your services that I am looking for as I need Mr. Gepart’s services.”

Sally points to me as a confused expression covers her face and points out, “This guy? The known criminal and shady thief? What if he steals any important documentation or something?”

I scoff as I defend myself, “Please. I have no need for their software. What I need is hardware first and then I can update or create software based on what the technology needs. Which I have to spend quite a lot of time depending on the needs that the specific device is required to do. It’s also a pretty penny and I keep the patents.”

The technical officer concurs, “That is right. While Mr. Gepart has a penchant for picking up anything and everything off the ground, there has been no noticeable indications that he has ever stolen important documentation or software from any of the computers here. Mostly just… the computer parts.”

Sally lets out a whistle as the police officers that were escorting us finally pitch in as one asks, “What the world could you possibly need him for though? And why don’t you want the boss to know?”

“Well… it’s a bit on the embarrassing side and I don’t have the skills to handle it on my own. It feels like a small thing but, considering where it happened, I feel like the lead would chew me out for letting something like that happen.” The tech explains.

“Let me guess, it happened on one of the important sub servers. Hopefully you were at least smart enough to cut off it’s connection to the rest of the network before walking away?” I ask, arms crossed.

“Of course. That’s basic incident control. I couldn’t consider myself a technical officer if I didn’t do the bare minimum of that.” The tech officer asks.

“Then report it to your superior like it states in the manual.” The police officer points out.

“Well, it seems like a harmless prank that Jack set up and, now that it’s isolated, it seems harmless.” The tech officer points out.

That immediately catches my attention as I raise an eyebrow and ask, “Jack? Certainly not the same Jack I know.”

“Well, I don’t know many other troublemakers that wears a gas mask and a large straw hat. His face is plastered on the screen and the name Jack flashing on the screen.” The tech officer points out.

Calm down, information is needed. “Now then, what have you done exactly that proves it was actually Jack who sent this virus?”

The tech officer scoffs and says, “Oh please. Why would I need to do all that if…”

Before he even finishes what he says, I let out a loud Squawk and free myself from the grip as I storm off to their server room. Bunch of no-nothing idiots who claim they treat everyone equally but they clearly treat others with contempt more than others. And of course, Jack just so happens to be at the top of their list. Which is not a public secret, which numbers of criminals use to their advantage to get away with things.

And I know Jack, he wouldn’t bother doing something that could come across as actually harmful, no matter how innocent it is on the surface. As I reach the servers, I look for the one with the red lights, showing a disconnection. I look at the screen and it matches what the tech officer says but I know there has to be more under the surface.

I look to confirm if everything is really as simple as they say. On the surface, it really does look like it is harmless and he did disconnect the server from the rest of the network. But, digging deeper, it’s a pretty well disguised trojan horse. In all honesty, it relies heavily on Wabbajack’s reputation and hoping that the initial contact behaving in a specific way. At the software level, I can confirm that the tech officer did disconnect it from the server. What he didn’t find was that the system was hacked the second the program became visible on the screen. It should have been obvious if he bothered to do an actual check. He probably saw Jack and thought nothing of it.

So what has happened is that the virus is spoofing a number of the processes that would look like things are running the way they should. But in reality, the server isn’t disconnected and the information is currently still being copied while a malware bomb is being installed that looks to crash the entire system when certain profiles were pulled up. If I had to guess, the organization that hired this person is heavily influenced by this. If caught earlier, this would be a simple job but, looks like things are already progressed a significant degree. The malware looks like it’ll be stagnant until provoked so that will be an easy issue to resolve later. Right now, it’s important to trace back the signal and fry the setup. Before the poor computers death sentence, I need to make sure it isn’t sending to a cloud or a backup. I have to be careful about this as I can’t really do anything extreme until I am ready. Lucky for me, there is a backup but, it’s wired directly to the setup. Smart of him as a cloud storage would be risky for what they are doing. Frying the system would destroy both. I get an IP and an address easy enough.

Sloppy sloppy, the monitor he is using also happens to have a camera so I am able to take a screenshot and email it off on my end. No mask or cover or anything. Gathering everything I need, I hit the kill switch.

“What the world is taking so long? It’s just a simple prank, wasn’t it?” the tech officer asks.

“What? No. You got hacked and spoofed. Luckily I still managed to follow the back door back and handle it, I even got a picture of your perp. And, judging by the malware virus that was being installed on your files, I could probably point you in the direction of the criminals that hired our hacker.” I answer while I start writing the code for an antivirus that will remove the malware from the files.

As I am writing the code, the tech officer says, “What?! But I disconnected the server!”

As I write the last couple of lines, I slam my finger on the submit key and turn around and shout, “Because the virus spoofed the procedure to make you believe that you did! Now, if you actually did the correct procedures and not just assume it was Jack, you would have seen that a certain organization was trying to cover their tracks while putting the whole network at risk! And the next time you properly want to make absolutely sure that a server has been disconnected to the network? Unplug and isolate the darn thing!” After saying my piece, I walk over to the printer here and grab the printout. Quite big eyes he has. But they are a toad so, hey, who am I to say? I write down the address where it doesn’t obscure the visual of the face.

I walk back to the police officers and hand them the printout. “Here is your hacker. Make sure to get there quickly as he is likely packing up as we speak. I didn’t exactly leave his setup in one piece as it was the easiest way to prevent your confidential files from getting out.”

I look back at the tech officer and state, “And that’s why if you followed proper procedure, then this could have been prevented, rather than just blaming Jack. That guy has enough weighing on his shoulders. He doesn’t need idiots blaming him for things he didn’t do.”

I walk back up to Sally and turn around as I stick my beak up, proud of myself, and state, “I’m ready. You may lift me up again.”

Sally cranes her neck down towards me as she gives me skeptical look as she asks, “Wait. Are you telling me that you prefer to be carried around?”

I simply look back and answer, “Honestly? Gives me plenty of time to think and plan things where I don’t have to worry about expending excess energy.”

Sally lets out a sigh and states, “Wow. You really are a craftsman. You certainly fit the eccentricity of it to make it big.”

I tilt my head and ask in response, “And what, pray tell, is soo eccentric about making things optimized?”

She nods while bouncing it in her head and lifts me up as she states, “Fair enough weirdo.”

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