"Darryl. You picked us up together. My friend. Someone had stabbed him in the Powell Street BART. That's why we were up on the surface. To get him help."

Hell, maybe my room was wiretapped. Maybe there was a camera spying on me now.

Then I turned around. They were both so close I could see the zit on the cheek of the one on the left, the little booger up the nose of the other.

I knew what he was talking about. Two of Van's uncles had gone to jail and had never reappeared.

The more people it catches, the more brittle it gets. If it catches too many people, it dies.

I logged back in and there I was, still on the deck of the Zombie Charger, waiting for someone to wind me up. I hated this part of the game.

"I wasn't going to mention it, but I want you to understand why I have to do this."

She gave me a long look, like she was thinking it over. No one said a word. We all wanted to hear the answer.

"Yeah," another kid said. "This sounds like you're saying that national security is more important than the Constitution."

"They're trying to discredit us," Dad said finally. "They're trying to sabotage the efforts to keep us safe."

"It's my responsibility because if I tell them to stop, they'll stop."

She looked like I felt. Sleep-deprived and raccoon-eyed, with sad brackets in the corners of her mouth.

When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

"I figure that three t-shirts, a pair of pants, a pair of shorts, three changes of underwear, three pairs of socks and a sweater will do it."

She took another step forward and snatched the phone out of his hand, reaching behind her with her other hand and bringing it out holding a wallet open.

She hugged me so hard I couldn't breathe. I hugged her back even harder.

"His father met me somewhere else. He's in the hospital."

"Give the guy a break, he's clearly had his mind warped by circumstances."

It was only a few years ago that someone invented phishing.

The fact that I was a graduate student at MIT when I hacked the Xbox legitimized the activity in the eyes of the right people.