Page 88 of Honorable Sins

"I didn’t hack the whole system," Fitz offers.

"That is not the reassurance you think it is," Conor tells him.

"I only accessed the secondary security controls. I wanted to see if the privilege escalation method Mom showed me would work on an isolated system."

Brice and Conor look at me with matching expressions of censure.

I lift my hands. "I did not tell him to test it on the Bunker."

"You said a real system shows weaknesses a sandbox won’t," Fitz reminds me.

"I meant our home network."

"You hardened that after the last time."

"Because you got in."

"So, I needed a different system."

Eyes still swollen from the pepper spray, Brice rubs one hand over his mouth. He is trying not to laugh.

Conor doesn't look even a little amused. "You created a hidden administrator account in the most secure facility owned by the Shaughnessy Mob because you wanted a more difficult practice target."

"Yes."

"How did none of my people find it?" Conor asks.

"I hid it."

Conor's nostrils flare. "I gathered that."

"I cloned the permissions from a maintenance account that only activates during diagnostics, then altered the audit log so access from my device registered as an automated systems check."

My mouth falls open a little. I taught him each of those techniques separately. I didn’t show him how to combine them and I definitely didn’t teach him how to hide an unauthorized account from Conor's security team.

"How did you get into an isolated system?" I ask.

"The training-room environmental controls use the same maintenance network during software updates. I accessed it when Uncle Brice left me alone to change after sparring."

Brice closes his eyes.

"Did you find anything else?" Conor asks.

"Three vulnerabilities."

"Three?" I can't help the surprise in my tone. I helped the blackgloves design that security system.

"One is fixed."

"How?" Conor asks.

"I fixed it."

Conor visibly counts to ten in his head. "Why didn’t you tell me there were two others?"

"I wasn’t finished testing them."

Conor swears.