Prologue
While waiting for his coffee to brew, J3ff writes a port scanner as a part of his high school project. Spending too much time using his top-notch gaming computer, he’s not exactly fit. He knows very well that he should invest some time into visiting a gym on a regular basis, but I guess he’s just too damn lazy for that. Writing the last function of his scanner, he takes notice of his coffee being finished. Knowing that he finalizes the function he’s been working on and sets the program to compile. He stands up, straightens his back, and walks towards the coffee machine. It’s about ten steps from his computer to that coffee machine. He picks up his cup from under the nozzle of the coffee machine, opens his fridge, grabs a glass bottle of milk, and pours some into the cup. He likes the faint cold taste in the middle of a hot coffee, which the milk objectifies precisely. Most of the time, J3ff prepares for himself a double espresso. However, there are times when he preferers a classic, savory cappuccino. He returns the bottle of milk into the fridge and heads back to the computer. The program has finished compiling and has been executed automatically. A series of IP addresses has appeared on the screen, each in its own line. There were other numbers alongside the IP addresses, likely port numbers. From the looks of it, J3ff’s whole network has been under tight lockdown, as none of the IP addresses have any ports open. Then again, this could also have been caused by using an improper scanning technique. Since the school assignment has now been finished, J3ff wants to play a game. He takes a moment to think about it, as he isn’t sure, because he owns too many games. Finally, he chooses Beat Rush. Beat Rush is an indie game about racing above a levitating platform in the middle of space while energetic electronic tracks play in the background. While playing the game for a while, he starts to feel undeniably gloomy. Regrettably, this isn’t anything unusual. He has been having episodes of loneliness and depression for quite some time due to the introverted nature of his. The despondency eventually leads to outright despair and anxiety. Wishing to finally be able to talk and share his experiences with someone whom he could place his trust in, J3ff closes the game window and moves on to continue his work. For some time now, J3ff has struggled to write his own software and build something entirely out of nothing. Doing that, he often forgets about the problems he is having. This allows him to take a break from the harsh reality that exists outside of his computer. It isn’t easy for him to deal with similar feelings almost every day. However, he’s managing somehow. He likes using the open-source, JavaScript-written, widely beloved code editor, Ocular Bottega 2.0. As such, he launches it from his desktop environment’s taskbar and quickly hovers his mouse over the last-open project. It reads “Aurora.” Huh. Isn’t that the thing that appears in the skies above Norway? There’s also a timestamp underneath. The font’s small, but it looks like ”something September 2023.” He pauses for a second, thinking about whether he should continue working on this one or any of his other numerous ongoing projects. He decides to go with this one, so he uses his left mouse button to open the project workspace. The code editor begins to re-index all the symbols within the project, and J3ff seems to believe that this will take a while, so he stands up and walks to the bathroom. He clutches his PearPad 11th Generation with him to keep him company. After he gets out of the bathroom after approximately 10 minutes, he, once again, goes to his desk. It appears that the indexing process was done, which means that he can, at last, get to work. He opens one of the header files and declares new members. Then, he goes for the source file and implements them, which takes about 10 minutes. Not sure whether his code will work, he decides to run it. Pressing Ctrl + Shift + B causes the editor to invoke g++, a compiler for the C++ programming language, which begins the compilation process. Knowing that the process will take a moment, he, once again, stands up and walks to the kitchen. He’s craving something sweet, as this was something he’s used to doing while working, mainly in the evenings. Looking around the kitchen, he isn’t able to find anything. Slowly losing his mind due to not getting his dose of sweets, he catches sight of a pack of sandwich biscuits filled with cocoa. He smiles and swiftly grabs it. While he’s walking back to see whether the compilation has finished, his phone vibrates. Yes, he’s used to taking his phone with him, even when going to the kitchen to pick something up. He pulls it out and unlocks its screen. As he lays his eyes on the notification bar, he freezes in place. It appears to be a text message from someone. What he received in that text message surely had to be something pretty shocking.
