Chapter 11: No Excuses

While the team spent the next three days preparing for Finals Day, Marcus was dealing with another kind of defense.

He’d brought in IT and cybersecurity professionals to investigate the breach and rebuild Reforged’s security systems. They’d identified the original intrusion vector, but finding the way in was only the beginning. Before anyone could rebuild the affected machines, the evidence had to be preserved.

Digital forensic investigators made verified, bit-for-bit images of the affected drives and collected whatever access records, network logs, and other evidence remained available. They documented what they’d done and who had handled the evidence. Kelto might have concluded its disciplinary proceedings against Overpower, but that didn’t mean the investigation into the intrusion itself was over.

There were still questions about who had carried out the attack, how far they’d gotten, and whether federal or state laws had been broken. The evidence was being preserved for possible use by law enforcement and prosecutors, including a grand jury investigation if the authorities decided one was warranted.

Marcus had made one thing absolutely clear. Nobody was to wipe or rebuild the affected systems until the forensic team had preserved what it needed. Reforged wanted its computers back, but not at the expense of making it harder to hold the people responsible for the intrusion accountable.

Once the evidence was secured, the cybersecurity specialists could start their work. The compromised systems remained disconnected, wireless access disabled where necessary, and the machines containing Reforged’s proprietary research isolated from the rest of the network. None of those systems was going back online just because somebody was impatient. The team still had to practice and compete on computers connected to Kelto, but that was no reason to expose the research machines.

There was a complication, however. World of WarMachines was an online game. Actually manufacturing equipment required a connection to Kelto’s servers, which meant an entirely offline production environment wasn’t possible.

The specialists recommended separating research from production. Martin and Aleks’s notes, formulas, and experimental findings would stay on isolated computers. Dedicated manufacturing terminals would connect to the game, but only the instructions needed for a particular production run would cross that boundary. Access would be limited and recorded, and the manufacturing machines wouldn’t be used for email, browsing, or anything else they didn’t need to do.

It would be inconvenient. It would slow things down, and the process still couldn’t be made completely secure. But it was a great deal better than leaving the whole research operation accessible from an ordinary network connection.

Reforged had also kept Reactor Critical informed. Their professional partners already manufactured equipment using licensed Reforged processes, and anyone who knew that might decide to look for a softer target there.

Word came back that Reactor Critical’s security staff were reviewing their own protections and access procedures, particularly around the licensed manufacturing systems. They weren’t claiming to be impenetrable. They were making certain the breach at Reforged hadn’t handed someone a reason to try their luck elsewhere.

Marcus retained two cybersecurity specialists for ongoing monitoring and advice. He wasn’t about to let Reforged invest a fortune in developing technology only to lose the results because of an overlooked security vulnerability. The specialists warned him that there was no such thing as perfect security. Strict access controls, limited permissions, separated networks, and air-gapped research storage could make another intrusion considerably harder, but nothing was foolproof.

Marcus had asked whether they could make the system completely safe. The answer had been no. He’d asked whether they could make it substantially safer. That answer had been yes.

He’d settled for yes.

Kelto’s public statement helped a little. The company reminded professional and semi-professional organizations that participation in sanctioned WarMAC competition depended on compliance with the league-wide Code of Conduct.

Overpower’s owner had apparently been unaware of his coach’s activities, but once confronted with the evidence, he’d cooperated, accepted responsibility for what had happened under his organization’s name, and agreed to substantial penalties rather than attempting to defend the indefensible. Kelto had taken that cooperation into account.

It also made its expectations clear. Team owners were responsible for taking reasonable steps to prevent misconduct, responding promptly when problems came to light, and cooperating with investigations. Ignorance alone wouldn’t automatically absolve an organization of responsibility for wrongdoing committed on its behalf, and future violations could bring even harsher penalties.

That warning wouldn’t deter every hacker. There would always be people willing to cause trouble for the fun of it. But between the upgraded security, Reactor Critical’s precautions, and Kelto’s reminder of the consequences, Reforged hoped the next person who tried would find the target considerably harder to hit.

By the time the team left for Finals Day, the rebuilding was still underway. The sensitive systems weren’t back online, and Marcus had no intention of rushing them.

By the time Reforged landed in Seattle, Adrian had developed a theory. There were approximately nine billion journalists on Earth. Eight billion, nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven of them were waiting for Reforged. The other three were presumably covering wars.

The first questions started before they were entirely off the bus.

“Adrian! Did Coach James apologize to you?”

“Amy! Do you think Overpower’s punishment was sufficient?”

“Marcus! Are you pursuing criminal charges?”

“Martin! How much stronger is Reforged armor?”

“Was Overpower the only team attempting to acquire the process?”

“Do you believe other teams have already duplicated it?”

“Did Kelto know Reforged had this advantage during Spring?”

“Were the Summer Tournament results compromised?”

Adrian kept walking. Amy kept walking. Marcus had apparently developed the ability to look directly through another human being. Martin stopped. Adrian grabbed his arm.

“No.”

Martin frowned.

“They asked a technically inaccurate question.”

“I know.”

“I can correct it.”

“No.”

“But...”

“Martin.”

Martin allowed himself to be dragged onward. The security personnel Kelto had assigned them began forming a loose barrier between the team and the press. Adrian leaned toward Amy.

“I think one of them just asked me whether Coach James is going to prison.”

“Do you know?”

“No.”

“Then I guess you can’t answer.”

“I was considering making something up.”

“What?”

“Firing squad.”

Amy looked at him.

“Too much?”

“Probably.”

“Fine.”

They made it another twenty feet.

“Adrian! Has the scandal affected your preparation for Megaminds?”

He stopped. Amy almost ran into him.

“No.”

She grabbed his sleeve.

“Keep moving.”

“That was almost a tournament question.”

“It wasn’t.”

“It mentioned Megaminds.”

“It was wearing Megaminds as a hat.”

Adrian sighed.

“Fine.”

They kept moving. The media area inside was somehow worse. Kelto had arranged a formal arrival availability for all four Finals Day teams. Normally it would have been simple: photographs, a few questions about matchups, players saying they were excited to be there, and coaches pretending they had no idea what the other team would do.

This time, Reforged entered the room and approximately every hand went up. The Kelto media director looked at the room, looked at Reforged, then looked back at the room. Whatever carefully prepared plan had existed thirty seconds earlier was apparently dead.

“All right.”

The questions continued being shouted.

“Everyone.”

The media director stepped closer to the microphone.

“EVERYONE.”

That worked.

Mostly.

“We’re going to make one adjustment to today’s media schedule.”

More hands.

“Do not ask questions yet.”

Hands lowered reluctantly. The director looked toward Reforged.

“We would like nothing more than to talk about this and clear everything we reasonably can.”

Adrian blinked. That did not sound promising.

“However, given how much attention Reforged has received over the last couple of weeks, we’ve decided it would be unfair to make them sit through a series of press conferences about Overpower immediately before the tournament.”

The room erupted. The director held up both hands.

“No. Listen.”

The shouting subsided.

“If you’re going to ask about Overpower, the security breach, the investigation, Coach James, disciplinary matters, or any related subject, we will arrange separate media availability.”