The Maestro Is Back.

Well, not really.

I know I have not been around here for so long, and trust me, I miss you guys so much. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. I had to sacrifice NL and move to my own blog: www.amazingkevinjohn.

I have all my old stories there, arranged in reverse chronology. It has a beautiful cool design, and an eye friendly landscape. What is more, if you are one that just loves to read without the distraction of comments from fellow readers, you just got your wish.

I have two new books coming up both in my blog:

1. THE HUNT
2. THE FIREWALL


But to appreciate my long standing fans.... Here is Chapter One of THE FIREWALL fresh and undiluted.

Kevin got home after another unsuccessful job hunt to find the gate to his house locked. He should have called Tunde to ask if he was home but there was no airtime on his phone. He sat dejectedly outside the house and waved at a girl hawking cold refreshments. He took a bottle of water, paid her and drained the contents of the bottle. Relaxing his back against the fence of the house, he sent Tunde a fourth “please call me” text and waited. Three months ago, the bank where he worked had been merged with a bigger bank and staff strength had to be cut down. Unfortunately, he was considered surplus to requirements and had been sacked. Getting another job had proved to be a herculean task as he had been searching and had not been successful, even after tweaking his resume many times over. He had been to different organizations, schools and was thinking about going into the civil service. The salary paid at the civil service for his entry level was nothing to write home about. However, he had gotten to that stage where just any job would do. Sometimes, he felt like there was a hex preventing him from being successful in life. Or was there?

“Impossible!” He said to himself.

He looked at his phone again. Sandflies had begun to feast on his skin. It was almost an hour since he got home and there weren’t any signs that Tunde would call him soon. He needed to get into the house and have a cold bath. He felt his body sticky from sweat and that made him very uncomfortable. As he prepared to send another text message to Tunde, a call came into his phone. It was not a number he knew. His first thoughts were that Tunde probably had no airtime on his phone so he had to use another phone to call, explaining his delayed response. Kevin allowed the phone ring for a while and then answered the call..

“Hello.” He said.

“Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Damilola Braimoh and I am calling from CityGate Oil. Please am I speaking with Kevin Imoh James?” A sweet female voice said.

Kevin was immediately ecstatic. He took the phone off his ear and checked the time. It was 4:35 pm. He made a mental note of the time and got back to the call.

“Yes please, Kevin speaking.” He replied.

“Okay Mr Imoh. I would like to inform you that after screening a number of resumes, you have been selected to come for a written test on Tuesday, 23rd September. Would that be convenient for you?” The lady said.

“It is fantastic ma’am.” Kevin replied, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

“You would have to come to the Head Quarters of CityOil to write the test. We are at BroadStreet Marina. We expect that you would be punctual as the test starts at 8am. Do you have any questions please?” She said

“No questions at all. Thank you very much ma.” Kevin finished.

“Okay then. Congratulations Mr. Imoh. Have a lovely day”

“And you too.”

Kevin wore a huge smile on his face. He set a reminder on his phone for Monday 22nd September and posted “4:35” on his Facebook timeline. That he was locked out of the house seemed not to bother him anymore. He had been given a new lease of life, and good reason to be hopeful. CityOil was one of the best oil companies in the country and they had just invited him for the first stage of interview. He got up and dusted his behind. This was good news and he could not take it sitting. He had to celebrate it. Walking out of the compound, he headed for Madam Patricia’s Bar.

****************

Mr Efosa Briggs was worried. He had his head in his hands as a barrage of thoughts tumbled inside his head. If he did not act fast, a lot would go wrong. He was under immense pressure and he had limited time to deliver. CityOil had been the best oil company in the country for three years running since he took charge as executive director. It did not come easy as he had to put in tremendous effort both within and outside the confines of the company. However, external forces were rearing ugly heads and there was nothing he could do about it. Losing his position was the least of his problems. He could be imprisoned or worse. He read the email that triggered his uneasiness yet again. He needed a miracle else he was done for.

Picking the intercom, he dialed a number and waited for response.

“IT department, good morning.” Came a feminine voice

“Good morning Lucy. Any head way yet?” Efosa asked.

“None yet. The firewalls have a foreign algorithm sir. We are still trying to understand it’s makeup before we can attack it and break it down. Like I explained to you yesterday sir, if we try to force our way in, we would be noticed and that would give us away. I assure you Mr. B, we are doing all we can.”

“Then speed it up! Time is of the essence.” Efosa said and hung up.

He knew he really had to begin looking outward for a solution. The challenge he faced was that the matter was so sensitive that taking it to a mercenary was very risky. It had to be someone he knew, someone who had something to lose too, and someone he could trust. Exhausted, he put his hands on his desk, rested his head on them and closed his eyes.

“God help me.” He muttered.

*****************

“You really are going to shut down the place, aren’t you?” Tunde asked.

Kevin ignored his best friend and hummed a melodious tone as he wore his cufflinks. He was dressed in a black suit and a slim tie. He assessed himself in the mirror and smiled satisfactorily. He knew that things were going to be different. The way he felt this day was different; very different from the way he had ever felt when going for any interview. More so, he had passed the written test in flying colors, had gone through the second and third stage of interviews, and was at the final hurdle. He had borrowed money from Tunde to get this outfit together and he really did look smashing.

“Hey dude, hand me my Cartier glasses.” Kevin said.

“Which Cartier glasses? The one I bought from my trip to Dubai or which one?” Tunde asked

“I know it is yours. Worry not. After today, things would be different. How do I look?”

“Just make sure you bring my glasses back in one piece.”

Kevin stepped out of the house filled with confidence and with only one thing in mind. He saw himself driving expensive cars and living wealthy. His days of suffering and being broke were definitely over. All he needed to do was scale the final interview.

Three hours later, he was sitting at the reception of Efosa’s office waiting to shake the hands of the CEO himself. As excited as he was, Kevin tried not to show his joy at landing his dream job. He had the members of the interview panel laughing at his jokes; he had answered related IT questions perfectly and had known even before he was told that he had gotten the job. Everything was working out as he had hoped.

“If it is not our brand new IT staff.” Efosa said as Kevin was ushered into his office.

Kevin approached his desk and took the man’s outstretched hand in both palms. He managed to murmur a weak “good morning” as he took the seat that he was offered. After talking a bit about personal life and challenges, he asked why Kevin had not been able to land a job with his brilliant resume for the past few months.

“I think I was just being tossed around in preparation to start this job sir. You know the universe sometimes has a way of making one go in circles before finally taking the person to his destination.” Kevin replied.

“Smart answer, Kevin. I think I like you already. It says here that you got an Oracle Crest, Best in Certified Hacking, and was Microsoft’s best Server student in three years Nigeria region? That is impressive. You also have a CCIE certification. You must be a genius.” Efosa said.

“Well, I have always loved providing solutions to the problems that users of the computer face. The more complex the problems are, the more intrigued and spurred on I am to try and find solutions to those problems.” Kevin replied.

They talked about current affairs, soccer and then rounded off with music. He had spent close to thirty minutes with him and felt like he knew the man already. As they finished their conversation, the intercom in Efosa’s office rang. He picked the receiver, listened for a few seconds and placed the receiver back in its cradle.

“HR Department is ready for you, Mr Imoh. Hope you will pop in here soon so we can rub minds again?” Efosa asked.

“Of course sir. Anytime.”

As Kevin stepped out of the office, Efosa picked up Kevin’s resume and scanned it again. As he did, an idea struck him. Could this be the break he so much needed? Had he finally met the person who would help him out of his mess? He had to be sure. He picked the intercom and dialed Human Resources.

“Hello Damilola. Did you run background checks on the young lad that just joined us? Kevin?” He asked

“Yes sir, I did. Routine checks were carried out as regards his referees, former employees, schools, and residence. Although we could not confirm his professional certifications as we were not getting any response from the organizations involved, Lucy said he was okay.”

“Hmmm…Thank you.” Efosa said and hung up.

Something was not right. He checked his phone contacts, retrieved the number of his friend who was a group head at Microsoft, and placed a call to him. After the exchange of pleasantries, Efosa asked if they had any information about Kevin who got a certification from the company. Efosa held on while his friend searched the database. After holding for three minutes, his friend was back online.

“Efosa, I am sorry to have kept you on hold for so long. I encountered a little glitch. We found a certain Kevin Imoh James on our database. Is that the person you are interested in?”

“Yes exactly. How come you got the exact Kevin I wanted? Surely there should be a hundred Kevins or more in your database.” Efosa said

“Yes. You are right. However while searching the database we noticed that we could not access any information on this Kevin. We could not click his name for records. It’s as if the name was squeezed in there. All the names are hyperlinked to our information store but Kevin’s wasn’t. I had my tech guys work on it and they said it was a hack. The name has been removed from our database.”

Efosa’s mood suddenly lit up. Kevin had successfully hacked into Microsoft’s database and altered information. That was more than what he was hoping to get. His friend tried to get information on Kevin so as to inform the authorities but Efosa assured him he would handle the matter himself. After some idle chat, he ended the call. Excited, he placed a call through to Damilola.

“Hello Damilola. Do you have any idea where Kevin is?”

“Yes sir. He is currently undergoing his medicals.”

“Have him see me immediately he gets back into the premises. It is very important.”

“Okay sir.”

Things were beginning to look up. Now, all he had to do was play his cards well, get Kevin to do his bidding and all would be well with the world. He got up from his chair and walked to his window. He looked at the expanse of land and greenery that enveloped the space outside the building, allowing himself to get lost in the beauty of nature.

Kevin concluded his medical checkup and returned to Human Resources where his appointment letter had been drafted. He received it, read through and almost screamed when he saw the packages and benefits attached to his appointment. Kevin filled the forms, entered the information required and submitted them. He got a check meant for him to have a wardrobe change and was to begin work in three days. He had been introduced to the members of the IT department and was exposed to the kind of work he was supposed to do. Now all he had to do was go finish up with the CEO, and then head home. He approached the CEO’s secretary with a smile and she immediately waved him into his office.

“He’s expecting you.” She whispered.

Kevin nodded, knocked twice on the door and allowed himself in.

“Kevin, the genius! Please, sit.” Efosa said, turning from the window by which he was standing.

Efosa was all smiles as he sat. Kevin felt a little uneasy at his seeming niceness but did not dwell too much on it. The room was quiet. He expected the CEO to say something but the man seemed engrossed with the information on the sheets of paper he was reading. Kevin knew he had to break the silence.

“Mr Efosa, you wanted to see me sir?”

“Oh yes, yes. Excuse my manners. I was lost in this piece of information that was just emailed to me. So how do you like your new appointment; salary, the ambience and all?”

“I will not lie to you sir. All I could say was wow. This organization is giving me all I need to thrive and I will definitely give back to it, more than a hundred percent.”

“Good. That is very good, Kevin. That is the exact attitude we want from all members of staff. It is no fluke to be top of our competitors for three years in a row now. In the light of that, there is a very small matter that has been brought to my attention.” Efosa said and paused. He took his glasses off and looked straight at Kevin.

“Okay sir.” Kevin said. He sensed that something was wrong, but played cool with a smile on his face.

“I am going to ask you this question just once. Choose your answer very carefully Kevin. How many of those certifications listed on your resume did you sit for and obtain?” Efosa asked.

Kevin’s heart almost came out of his mouth. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead despite the air-conditioning in the room. His mind did a quick calculation. He had either been found out, or the CEO was just trying to play with his head. He had come so close now and he could not afford to start from scratch. If he told the truth, he would be kicked out. If he lied and they already knew, he would still be kicked out or maybe worse. Either way, he knew he could not dodge the question. He decided to be brave.

“None of them sir.” Kevin answered with his face down.

“What did you say?” Efosa asked feigning surprise.

“I did not obtain any of them sir. I stole them.” Kevin replied. He knew he could not lie. All he could do now was to appeal to the CEO’s human side and maybe they would let him go without any incidence.

Efosa got up from his desk and paced the room. He acted as though he was in deep thought. In his mind, he was jubilating. Now he had to tread with caution otherwise the whole point of getting Kevin to confess would be nullified. He shook his head several times and muttered incoherent words.

“Please sir, I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I…” Kevin began to say but he was cut off by Efosa.

“I do not need you to be sorry Kevin. You have made me an accomplice to fraud and forgery. You want to spoil the reputation I have built for myself and this company over the years? I will not allow that to happen. Never! The authorities have to look into this.” Efosa said and sat back in his chair.

He took out a small recorder from the breast pocket of his jacket and replayed the conversation they just had. Kevin could hear himself confessing to heinous crimes. He began to see himself being taken away by a police van and locked up in jail for a long time. Tears fell from his eyes.

“Please sir. I beg of you. I will do anything, anything at all. But please sir, do not destroy my life. Please sir.” Kevin said, pushing his chair back and kneeling before Efosa. He was sobbing like a baby. Efosa looked at him with disdain.

“There is nothing you can do for me boy. What do you think you can do for me?”

Kevin continued to plead and beg. He made all sorts of promises, swearing on his life that he would fulfill his promises. Efosa maintained his gaze on Kevin and then spoke after an uncomfortable amount of silence.

“Okay. Okay. I will help you.” Efosa said.

“Thank you very much sir. I am very grateful. Thank you.”

“How good are you at breaking firewalls?” Efosa asked.

“Not so good sir.”

“You are lying to me? You broke Microsoft’s firewall to plant your name in their database! Are you taking me for a fool?”

“I am sorry sir. I try sir. The major problem usually lies with understanding the generics of the firewall to be crippled. Once that has been achieved, the remaining is usually easier.”

“Good. I have an assignment for you. I have a firewall I need to get past and Lucy has not been able to do it. She is a pretty good hacker but this seems to be beyond her. I want you to take a look at it. See if two of you can break through. I am already behind schedule.”

“Can I take a look at it myself? I am not a good team player sir. I love working alone. If I cannot find a way through, I would then consult Lucy sir.” Kevin said.

“That is okay by me.” Efosa replied. He picked the intercom and dialed.

“Lucy, get me a laptop and with a link to the assignment I had you working on. Drop it with my secretary. I am expecting it in five minutes.”

“For the duration that it will take for you to break through the firewall, I will keep you under my watch. If you do as I say, you have nothing to worry about. You would be taken care of and the job would still be yours. However, if you prefer the other option of me involving the authorities, I would be glad to do so.” Efosa finished.

Kevin agreed to all Efosa had said and began working on breaking the firewall as soon as the laptop was given to him. He had had a lot of experience breaking down firewalls, hacking into systems, and inserting worms into databases. However, he had never had enough money to apply for a certification or go for courses. He did it all for fun. Now he was presented with another opportunity to do what he loved, only this time he was going in blind. He had no idea what firewall he was trying to break down nor where it originated from considering that he had to be careful not to step on ‘wall-mines’ that would trigger a trace back to him and his IP address. He was fascinated by this firewall and was oblivious of Efosa looking at him. The CEO had a smile on his face because he saw the hunger in Kevin’s eyes in the way he attacked the problem at hand.

Three hours later, Kevin looked up. He had found a solution to the problem. However he did not want to give the answer up so soon. He had to know what he was getting himself into. After digging around and surfing different files, he found out that the firewall they were trying to break into belonged to an International Bank and breaking the firewall gave them access to toy with the Bank’s defenses. If he got caught, he would never see the light of day again. Why would Mr. Efosa want to break down the firewall of a bank? What did he stand to gain? Kevin knew he could not ask these questions yet he had to somehow find a way to get the answers he sought. First, he had to throw the dog a bone.

“I would need a Trojan sir.” Kevin said looking up at Efosa.

“What for?”

“The only way to break this firewall is to introduce a virus, preferably a Trojan. It would infect the firewall and trigger the defense systems of the firewall, making the system vulnerable. I would then go in, enter a few codes of mine and the firewall is history.”

“How soon can you get this done?”

“If I get a Trojan, in minutes I would be done.”

Efosa called Lucy and fortunately she was able to come up with a Trojan virus extracted from an infected device from the trash. Kevin took it, uploaded it into the system and set to work. As the virus ran through the system, he was able to get through the firewall, patch certain files and eventually was able to gain a back door entry into the bank’s security.

“I am in” Kevin said without looking up and continued

“What do you want me to do?”

“Lucy will take it from here Kevin.”

Efosa had barely finished speaking when Lucy initiated remote access into Kevin’s computer gaining access to his screen. He began working swiftly, installing a script file that downloaded certain contents into the bank’s servers. He watched carefully noting all that went on.

“They are onto us.” Kevin spoke softly but sharply.

He knocked Lucy off the connection, and took over. Someone was trying to hack into CityOil’s servers.

“How can this happen?” Efosa asked.

“Whenever a system is hacked, the intruder leaves footprints. These footprints can be traced back to the source of the hack in minutes if the hack is still ongoing. We must have stepped on a wall-mine. I have to shut this down and get them off our trail.” Kevin replied.

“You cannot do that. The script has to be installed. You cannot shut down the injection of the script!”

“It’s either us, or the script. Both cannot be saved.”

All the while Kevin was speaking, he typed ferociously on his keyboard. He typed code after code, string after string as he ignored all the words spoken by Efosa. Lucy watched wide-eyed as she feared that the worst was about to happen. Kevin kept his cool as Efosa and Lucy watched him work like a magician on the keyboard. Lucy tried to keep up but she could not. Efosa tried to make sense of what he was doing but it all looked strange to him. He masked the IP address that his computer used, bounced his connections across several servers and led his hunter on a wild chase. Simultaneously, he got out the Trojan, took out the script, and back tracked his movements across the firewall. As he typed the final string of commands and finally exited the system he let out a mild scream.

“Yes! Take that sucker! Boom!” He jubilated slamming the laptop shut.

He quickly caught himself and apologized.

“So? What is the status? How are we?” Lucy asked confused.

“We did not get caught. I got out before he could catch me. So CityOil is safe.” Kevin replied

“And the script?” Efosa asked.

Kevin paused for a while. He looked at Lucy and then at Efosa. Shaking his head he got up from his chair and stretched.

“I am sorry sir. I did all I could but the script has been injected into the system successfully. Mission accomplished sir.” Kevin finished smiling.

Efosa could not hide his happiness. He looked at Lucy who was wearing a smile too and gave her a high five. Turning to Kevin, he stretched his hand for a shake. Kevin took his hand in his and got caught in a tight embrace from his CEO.

“Thank you. Thank you so much Kevin. You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you.”

Kevin could only smile. He checked his wristwatch and it was a few minutes past ten.

“Can I go home sir?” Kevin asked.

“Sure you can Kevin. Sure you can. Here, take this.” Efosa said, handing Kevin the keys to his Mercedes G-Wagon.

“You have earned this for a few days. Make sure you bring it back to work in three days when you resume, without a scratch. You will find some cash in the bottom compartment. You can have that too.”

“Thank you so much sir. Thank you.” Kevin said and hurried towards the door. He was almost at the door when Efosa called him back.

“Kevin. You forgot something.” He said and threw him the recorder where his confession had been stored. Kevin caught it and smiled. He nodded appreciatively.

“Be careful with that.” He admonished.

It was a quiet ride home. Kevin did not allow himself get caught up in the fact that he was driving a very expensive car; neither did he check the money that was in the compartment. He just wanted to get home, sleep and wake up the next day. As he parked the car in the compound and made for his room, Tunde met him at the door.

“Oh boy, what happened to you? I have been trying to reach you all day. Whose car is that? What is happening?” Tunde asked.

Kevin ignored him and shoved past him into the room. Tunde however, was not one to be ignored.

“Kevin. What is happening?” He asked again.

“Tunde, all I can tell you now is that it is a long story. When I wake up, hopefully you will hear all about it.”

Ooops...

Double Post.

Apologies

Huh! Kayemjay is back Yippee!!!

yorhmienerd:
Huh! Kayemjay is back Yippee!!!

Lol..thanks bro...

I am back but kinda temporarily.

I hope I can wow you all.

thats how i like it. more update pls

sitted

kayemjay:


Lol..thanks bro...

I am back but kinda temporarily.

I hope I can wow you all.

You reposted the chaptfr twice, check correctly

yorhmienerd:
You reposted the chaptfr twice, check correctly

Which Chapter please?

Oh! Seen and Modified!

Thanks bro

ritababe:
sitted

Thanks honey..missed u

xaviercasmir:
thats how i like it.
more update pls

You are asking for it... you gonna gerrit.

i just visited your wordpress,

very dope tho.
I'll prefer reading your works there than waiting for updates here

anyways,

you're dah best I've seen on Nairaland

Horlorlardaey:
i just visited your wordpress,

very dope tho.
I'll prefer reading your works there than waiting for updates here

anyways,

you're dah best I've seen on Nairaland

Wow...Thanks so much bro

I really appreciate you! Thanks baba.

Am Here Now , Lets Get It Rolling

Boss, make i catch front seat

Oga all this while you take style disappear like that e no good o. I av nt visited ur blog cos i am busy will do soon. I hope you will be updating on the blog before here. Always post the update link and notice here. Meanwhile welcome again seriously speaking i miss action and intelligently written literature. Oga unleash the film na season film make im be o

Hmm, kayemjay
This is a masterpiece. Well done MA man

kayemjay:



Thanks Boss...

Oga mi, I never forget una

Hope we would have an update today?

weldn boss pls any link to d the hunt?

I read this in the afternoon at ur blog, i was just waiting for u to post it so i would comment...

This is just perfect, am so interested in hacking that i have been waiting for update since lastweek.
Please continue the good work..
#MORE GRACE TO UR ELBOW!

Osman1996:
weldn boss
pls any link to d
the hunt?

kayemjay:

My Oga, I wish I could start The Hunt as soon as possible. I am currently trying to finish THE FIREWALL and SHADOWCORP.
THE HUNT will be our new year package.
I hope you understand.

No qualms sir
May God keep us alive nd see the moon alive
firewall non stop

My wonderful fans,

I have not run away and I have not abandoned you. I am preparing a special Christmas Bumper Package just for you on both THE FIREWALL and SHADOWCORP.

Updates will drop on/b4 Christmas Day. As usual, it goes first on www.amazingkevinjohn. but definitely comes here too.

I love you all.

Keep believing.

don't try run away
cuss u can't excape any routes this time around
xmas bumper!