With a familiar giddiness, I logged on to my computer. I entered a long, convoluted series of numbers and letters that no one would ever be able to figure out. I was paranoid about passwords. I had learned to be.
Once on my home screen I fired up my IRC client.
I found the channel I needed.
No one else would have been able to find it. Mostly because they weren’t looking for it.
It was amazing how easy it was to hide in plain sight.
8:03 Are you ready?
My stomach clenched and I quickly typed out a response.
8:03 2100. All set.
I waited. And waited.
A thrill went through my veins. My fingers tingled as I stared at the screen.
8:05 2100. Downtime should last at least fifteen minutes. Backup servers compromised.
My mouth was dry as my fingers flew along the keyboard.
8:06 DDoS will be swift. Setup in place.
There was no response.
***T0x1cwrath has quit IRC***
I logged off and closed my laptop. I loved this feeling—thebefore.
Anticipation.
My heart fluttered and my palms were sweaty.
It was the biggest high without the crash landing. I would never get sick of it.
I looked at the time. 8:30. I lost time so easily. If I didn’t leave now, all of the lip gloss and hair brushing would be wasted.
I thought briefly about tonight. About all the things I had planned. I hated having to leave the house, go to work, talk to people I didn’t care about.
I wanted to log back in to my computer and slip inside another world, where I was the most terrifying, amazing thing there was.
It was my addiction.
Power. Anonymity.
The relentless chase.
But it was another day. An important one for a lot of reasons.
I grabbed my keys and left the kingdom where I ruled.
And I became a new Hannah.
—
I lingered in my car for almost twenty minutes outside Nan’s Coffee Shop. My leg was cramping up and it was uncomfortably warm, but I waited until I saw a monstrous dark blue Lincoln Continental, circa 1987, pull into the parking lot. The driver circled for a few minutes, trying to find a place to fit the giant boat of a car.
