Bonus Chapter118 words

Log 4035: Nerdfest

Author's Note:

This is one of those times where I just had to spill a bit of what I know onto the story.

Apparently, due to the fact that I had been running around the halls for the entire day, combined with the fact that I had only eaten an apple yesterday, I had collapsed from exhaustion before I was able to reach the room I was looking for. Once again, I'm currently writing this on paper since my tablet is currently unavailable. Specifically, I've got a spiral notebook with me now that I use as an alternative when my tablet's gone. I know where it is though. It's still up in the air vents near rooms 1750 and 1752.

I also know that I probably won't be able to go retrieve it for today, since I'm still kinda stuck in a hospital bed with an IV. I should really pay attention to when I'm feeling tired.

Oh, and I also happened to make a small voice recorder I can hide in my mane. It's not really all that complicated, considering as how I built it from some old sing-along toys I found in the recycle bins. But hey, it's still recycling if you scrap three toys for parts, right?

"Hello?"

"Hey, doc. Do you think I can go now?"

The nurse raised a brow. At the same time, a rapid knocking came upon the door.

"Not quite yet, Gadget. There's someone who'd like to meet you."

"The kid with muscle control issues?"

"Yes, he's the one. Come in, Ranell!"

A short pre-teen entered the room on crutches, his smile beaming brightly. For someone who was currently half paralysed, he was in a pretty good mood.

"Hey," he began, "you're Gadget, right?"

I nodded, looking up from the notebook. Dropping the pen, I waved back at him. Well, I didn't necessarily drop the pen, just shift from holding it in my mouth to levitating it to continue writing. It takes some practice, but it makes multitasking pretty easy.

And then the awkward silence rolled in.

"Um... so what do you want to talk about?" I asked, lifting myself from the bed. The only response I received in return was a shrug.

"I don't really know..." Ranell finally replied, watching me as I continued struggling under the heavy blankets. "What do you like the most? I've read through your logs, and I can tell you like technology."

I nodded. An upbeat "Yeah!" escaped my lips, and along with me springing from my bed at the mention of technology, I also faceplanted on the floor.

Ouch.

Okay, so I've got my tablet back. That "ouch" at the end of that last part was from my reaction to myself falling off the bed in the security camera's video feed.

"Cool, so are you using a similar technique to the one I used to view through your webcam?"

"Maybe." I responded through the video chat. After I had fallen off the bed Ranell was escorted out of the room in case if anything else might happen. 'Cause y'know, there was heavy machinery that I could've knocked over.

"So you're using that security vulnerability that people found that allows you to root the device over-the-air?"

I shook my head, frowning.

"No, that's only an issue in linux-based devices. The security cameras use an in-house designed firmware."

The image of Ranell showed that he was deep in thought. Though he was now out of his crutches again, it didn't mean that he spent any less time using his mind.

"But Gadget," he finally responded, "even if it was designed in-house, wouldn't it still be based on an existing architecture? These are medical science people, not computer science. They don't have the resources to develop a whole new operating system and API."

Huh, he has a point.

"But still, I didn't use the backdoor to root the camera's firmware."

"Then what did you use?"

I smirked. "Y'know how not too long ago someone found that bug that allowed anyone to bypass login just by spamming the backspace key?"

Ranell raised a brow.

"Really? That happened?"

I nodded. "I read it in an article. Something about nobody ever bothering to try it during testing mainly because it's such a random bug. It was discovered a couple of years ago. Luckily for me, the firmware in those cameras still has that bug in their bootloader."

The boy chuckled. "That's what they get for not installing those security patches."

"No," I replied, "it's not a bug in Linux. It originated from the Grub 2 bootloader."

Ranell rolled his eyes. "Same difference, right? Usually Linux and Grub are found with each other."

"Yeah, in most cases. Though don't forget, Grub can also boot Windows, remember? It stands for GRand Unified Bootloader."

"So you're saying that you just hooked up to the serial console from whatever control system handles the camera, and pressed backspace?"

"Yup!" I chirped back, "28 times to be exact!"

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