Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Wow, only one collection so far. I think that is worse than my first story. Oh well, here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ego, it's the one thing everyone has, but few admit to. At least no one opening admits to it. So many people see it as a negative trait to have, but I disagree. If you are aware of your own ego, you will know one of your greatest weaknesses. It's like Sun Tzu said: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. I have always made it a point to know my enemies' weaknesses and find a way to profit from them. – Isabel Cadaval

You would be amazed how easy it was to create your own business. All you really needed was a bit of start-up capital, a lawyer, and a good account, and you were good to go. You see too many people when they hear that you wish to start your own business think buildings, employees and want not. They certainly don't think about an 18-year-old girl lounging around in her underwear, watching her computer monitor as another would-be hanker tried to break through Buzzsaw's security network.

It wasn't at all hard for me to decide how to go about introducing my little program to the world. In fact, it was scary how easy it was. You see, most people don't know that most hankers get their start at college camps worldwide. Where they learn the skills necessary to become what they eventually become. All I had to do was send copies of the Buzzsaw program to the computer engineering classes of as many colleges in America as I could, with an open challenge to everyone daring them to break into my system. Then, I sit back and watch as people's egos get the best of them, and they do my job for me.

It was something I learned a long time ago with my brothers when I was younger. When I was younger, there was a point in time when I developed faster than my brothers—making me both stronger and quicker than them for about a year. I literally was able to challenge and beat them in sports despite not being into them all that much for a time. Something that they hated me for with a passion and worked harder to overcome till the day nature took its inevitable course and reverted me back to the role of the physically inferior sex. Even to this day, I remain physically weaker than them despite maintaining a more rigorous workout schedule.

Now, the fact that most women were physically inferior to men was not what I had learned. No, I had known that for years beforehand. All you have to really do is watch the Olympics once and see the difference in things like run time or tossing distance to realize that. No, what I learned from those years is that people don't like to be challenged or made to feel inferior. They hate it with a passion. Male or female, it doesn't matter; most people don't like being challenged, and when they are, they have to prove to everyone around them that they are, in fact, not inferior.

As unlikely as it sounds, take this scenario as the perfect example. There is a guy playing street ball at his local park. He is the best in the whole neighborhood and completely dominates anyone who steps onto that court with him. Then, suddenly, Michael Jordan shows up and challenges him to a one-on-one game. Now the guy facing Michael Jordan, no matter how arrogant he is on an instinctive level, knows he is no match for His Airness. He is the best in his neighborhood, but Michael is the best in the world. But even knowing that the man facing Michael, even if he pretends like he doesn't, wants to beat MJ. In his mind, at that moment, despite knowing that he can't beat MJ, he must prove to everyone that he is not an inferior man.

Of course, he will lose and lose badly at that, and the world will know the truth. That, yes, he is, in fact, inferior to MJ. Everyone already knew that. The man knew that but didn't wish to accept reality, and when the game is over, he will most likely lie to himself. He will probably say something like it was all in good fun, or at least I tried my best, but the fact will remain that the best in the neighborhood is nothing compared to the best in the world. Of course, the same scenario could be applied to women. However, in that case, it went more for things like fashion and stuff than sports. Also, women were more subtle or perhaps sneaky about it.

Anyway, this is what I used to sell my product: First, there is pride and the desire to meet the challenge put before you. Then, you realize that you can't break it. Last, there is the desire to own it for yourself. Unlike the general population, most people working in the field of computer engineering understand the need for better protection for their systems. So, once they realized what they had, of course, they wanted it for themselves.

Though surprise, surprise, the first thing these people did was try to burn the CD and install it for free. A move I was easily able to predict, and because the only way Buzzsaw worked was via the internet and due to a nifty little code in the system itself, any attempt to copy my program met with failure. Now I know what some people may think. What right do I have to stop someone from copying a CD that I had freely given out? Well, to answer that question, I was the one who invented it. Kind of, anyway. They should count themselves lucky I didn't put one of several viruses in the CD that could have crashed their whole network.

So, moving on with that avenue of getting Buzzsaw closed, I was forcing people to buy my product at a reasonable price. About two months after starting my business, I had sold about 263 CDs with the Buzzsaw program at 20 dollars a pop. Before misusing the cost of material, shipping, and handling, I had made 5260 dollars. Not bad for a one-woman operation—not that it would stay that way for long.

A quick analysis of my current sales showed a marked increase of about 40 percent in units sold from the first month to the second. If this trend continued, I would soon be unable to meet demand for my product. To fix this, I would have to go to a third party to produce the CDs for me, as even with the loan I took out on my grandfather's house for startup capital, I couldn't hope to buy my own factory.

I would also have to get busy hiring people to do all the complicated shit for me because, really, I knew next to nothing about running a business. Luckily, while I didn't know anything about business, I knew one man who did, and as luck would have it, he was currently out of work due to some bad luck.

A couple of months later, after dragging myself out of the chair in front of my computer to get to work, I reluctantly dressed, hopped in my grandfather's old truck, and headed to my business. God, now sweet was that to say. My business, not anyone else's, mind you, but my business. It was enough to make a girl giddy if, well, it wasn't for all the hassle. I mean, I really hate having to go anywhere before noon.

It takes me about 30 minutes to drive to the small building I had rented for my business and park the truck. Getting out, I looked at the small two-story building that was just this side of run down and smiled. Mind you, not at the building itself, but at the sign over it. Ezekiel's Computers and Technology Inc. is the company's name, and ya, I know, why not just call it Buzzsaw Inc? That is a pretty badass name, right? And I so agree, but I wanted to name it after my papa, who made all of this possible. His encouragement and acceptance of my little quirks are what made me who I am today, and one day, the whole world will know the name of this company worldwide. They would know his name even if they never truly knew the man himself.

After I took a few more moments to take it all in, I walked inside and greeted one of the workers who only knew me as the company owner and nothing more. Going to an office labeled business manager, I say hi to the man inside. Dong Michael Smith was his name because, of course, he had to be named Dong for some reason. An acquaintance of my grandfather from the local American Legion, he was a veteran of the Gulf War who had just so happened to fall on hard times. According to what I found out, cutbacks at the company he was working for or something like that.

It was unfortunate for him but very fortunate for me, as he was college-educated and had several degrees in business. Some would ask why such a man would agree to work for an 18-year-old girl like me when he could most likely get a job anywhere he liked. Well, to answer that, first, he was my papa's friend. I didn't know the whole story because I knew better than to ask an army vet about what happened during a war, but I knew he had suffered from PTSD like my grandfather had. Papa, being the man he was, helped him get through some hard times. So, for that reason alone, he was willing to help me regardless of my age. If only to pay back my papa for the help he gave him.

The 2nd reason, however, was far more straightforward. Doug was a fucking businessman. He was a laid-off businessman, sure, but being laid off didn't mean he was unskilled. The moment I showed him my profit records from the first two months of starting my business. Including the data on how many people were failing to crack my software. He knew, like anyone else with even the smallest amount of business sense, that I had something hot to sell.

So, he was more than happy to jump on board while he could. Because if he didn't do it now, he knew that he would regret it later. At least, that is what I told myself. He may have still had some doubts. See, it still cost me a good chunk of the money I had taken out on loan to hire him without giving him a cut of the company. Still, it was well worth the money, seeing as I knew I could trust him, and he was quickly proving how skilled he was by getting everything set up.

"Good morning, Doug," I say after knocking on his door.

"It's the afternoon, Isabel," Doug says, never looking up from his personal computer, which, of course, was protected by Buzzsaw.

Shrugging my shoulders, I say, "Morning, afternoon. What is the difference between the two when you have just woken up?"

This does get him to look up and give me those scary dad eyes, "It sets a bad example for everyone who works for you, Isabel. I expect you to show up on time from now on."

His voice is so cold and hard I can't help but shiver a bit and answer, "Y….yes, boss."

Wait a moment, wasn't I the boss? I think to myself, then see a smirk on his face and blow a raspberry at him.

"So, are we ready to start shipping yet?" I ask him after I stop acting childish.

"Oh, most. The boys are almost done setting up the mainframe for the company." Doug answers me.

"Good, good. God, I am so excited. We are about to be rich, Doug." I say, trying not to lose control of my emotions. Something that was not easy to do, seeing as this was the first step in my master plan to change the world.

Of course, Doug, being the older and wiser man he liked to play, brings me back down to earth. "Don't get too excited yet, Isabel. Now, let's go over this one more time. I know I have already seen the date for the original program, but I have to ask again: Are you sure Buzzsaw is uncrackable?"

Hearing this, I fully understood his worry. Even with the data I provided him proving how strong Buzzsaw was, he was, in his heart, a businessman who was currently working for an 18-year-old girl. He was taking a huge risk right now. With a child on the way and a wife who was unhappy that he took a job working for me, he knew I had just enough money to pay everyone's salary for three months. After that it was make it or bust. If it weren't for his feeling of owning my papa for his help in the past, he would never have agreed to work for me.

So I stopped playing around and said, "It has already been nearly half a year since I sent the testers to as many colleges as possible. So far, the closest anyone has come to cracking it has been from a team at MIT. They were able to get past the first firewall, and that is it."

"Is that good, right?" Doug asks. Knowing nothing about software, he did not know if that was good or bad.

"It's very good, Mr. Smith. If it took them six months to get past the first wall, my best estimate says it will take them another six to a year to get past the second. Then things start to get different." I told him, but I was honestly underselling it.

While it was true that I was unable to use most of the coding that made up the real Buzzsaw, the fact remained that we were talking about a software program that was made 150 years in the future. Of course, something like that had evolved to incorporate new ways of coding that fracking didn't expect today. At least not outside my head, that is. What the MIT team was currently facing was just a more advanced version of what was currently being taught in schools. Once they got past the 2nd firewall, they would start to run into bits and pieces of coding that didn't exist yet. There was little doubt that they would end up stonewalled for years.

"By the time they crack it, Mr. Smith, we will have already advanced to Buzzsaw 2.0, which I am already working on. It will take me several years to build on 1.0, but I will be done long before they beat my system," I say confidently.

Doug nods at this, and I see the worry on his face bleed away somewhat. It's not entirely gone, but he looks more relaxed, at least. "Good, that is good, Isabel. I don't know if you realize this, but there are currently 20 million people using the internet nationwide. If we can even get 20 percent to buy our product, that is 4 million units sold, which is a total of 80 million dollars before taxes."

I whistle at that. That was a lot of money, I thought to myself.

"Don't get too excited just yet, however. First, we have to survive the first year. More advanced or not, a lot of the major companies are not going to like a new kid tossing his or, in this case, her hat into the ring." Doug says to me, but I can tell he is just as excited as me.

After all, while only I was sure of it, we were about to make history, and I already knew what my next product would be.