Code Green
"Agent Mercer, you're taking this 'eco-warrior' angle too far. This is a botnet. We shut it down, end of story!" Special Agent Barnes slammed his fist on the table.
Mercer stood her ground. "With all due respect, sir, this isn't your typical botnet. The code – it exhibits biological patterns, like a parasitic network. We can't just nuke it. There's another way."
"Oh, enlighten us, Agent Treehugger," Barnes scoffed.
She put her laptop down on the table and shielded her eyes from the sun. They were sitting on a rooftop of the security complex. Located away from major population centers, she looked out at the forests surrounding them.
“Hey, are you watching another butterfly? Focus!” he snapped.
She took a deep breath to calm down. The sweet scent of her makeshift garden assailed her nostrils.
“I’m building a counter-code,” she explained calmly. “It’s a digital cure which will use the botnet’s structure to spread and remove the malware. Think of it like the helpful viruses in your microbiome.”
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Barnes tilted his head.
“You are either brilliant or insane. I really can’t tell.”
…
Later, Mercer found herself sitting in the war room. Located far beneath the earth, all she had were monitors baking her in blue light. She longed to be back in the fresh air, but knew there was a job to finish.
“I’ve just uploaded the code,” she said to her colleague.
“It’s spreading already!” Chen exclaimed.
Both turned to look at the virtual map of infected machines. They could see the bio-code progress as glowing green tendrils reclaimed nodes one-by-one.
“But there’s some resistance,” Chen pointed out several places where progress was stalling. “They’re fighting back!”
“Nature always finds a way,” Mercer said, more to herself than to Chen.
“Mercer? What are you doing down here? It’s not even 8 in the morning,” Barnes grunted.
“I had a bout of inspiration,” she noted. “Besides, I’m always here to watch the sunrise.”
“You’re never down here in the war room this… What is that?” he grew more alarmed as he stared at the map.
“I’m fixing the botnet.”
“I can’t believe this! You went rogue. If word about this gets out it’ll be a PR nightmare.”
“I didn’t go rogue, I went green,” Mercer corrected. “And it’s working. Look, the botnet is crumbling.”
“I see a few dots of green in a sea of red.”
“Trust me.”
“You have until 4:30. If this doesn’t get fixed today then we’ll do it my way. Overload the whole system and fry them all. It’s short and will stop this whole mess from getting further out of control. Remember, we’re here to stop problems, not be diplomatic with them.”
“Yes sir.”
…
Over the course of the day Mercer couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. She turned away Chen when she offered to get lunch, or even a coffee. Nothing mattered more than getting this right.
Suddenly her phone beeped. Her hands scrambled into her pocket to see why.
It was her alarm. The time was 4:30.
Barnes entered the room. Chen wandered off somewhere else.
“Mercer, is the botnet finished?”
“Almost.”
“Almost doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid. You had your chance. You stepped outside of your authority. Now we’ll do things my way and we’ll have to talk about disciplinary actions tomorrow.”
“Agent Barnes, look!” Chen yelled.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the screen. The final infected node was flickering green, then winked out. The botnet was neutralized.
“Fine,” his voice was gruff but laced with a hint of respect. “I guess you were right this time. Sometimes you need to grow a solution, not burn it down.”
“This isn’t just a single thing. It’s the future. Think about it, technology and nature could work together in so many ways.”
“We’re going to get computers to photosynthesize?”
“Maybe not that, but nature can still outperform machines in many ways. Think about adaptability, resource management, or resilience. Imagine cybersecurity which can learn from the natural world. An entirely new frontier of computing.”
“You and your frontiers…” Barnes grumbled, yet Mercer picked up a hint of curiosity in his voice. “I’m just glad you’re on our team, just no more going rogue.”
“I’ll try my best,” Mercer grinned.
I wanted to write a short story inspired by Operation Duck Hunt, where the FBI co-opted an active botnet to spread their own botnet uninstaller. Infected computers end up cancelling out both and they go away without problem.