Part 19: Future Gadget Laboratory engages in illegal activities

His typing speed has already become that of a piston. His feet move up and down in an accompaniment with the rattatattatat of his keyboard. He hasn't slept in about 40 hours, but Daru still won't separate from his computer. I want to ask him if he'd like a break, but hesitate. His entire body exudes an aura that says "Don't talk to me."

I curl myself up a bit and look back down on my phone screen. The discussions with John Titor don't quite fit together. It looks like not even Titor himself knows about the Titor of ten years ago. It's hard to imagine that everyone on @channel except me is conspiring.



In the mail, I question the differences in his posts from 10 years ago and now. He doesn't seem to be in contact with the Titor who posted 10 years ago. I only vaguely remember it, but it went primarily like this:
2015, World War III breaks out, many people die.
2036, the world is contaminated from nuclear warfare.
He time traveled from 2036 to 1975 to obtain an IBN 5100. Its purpose was to revive technology lost in World War III.
The IBN 5100 has a hidden function: The ability to debut IBN's special proprietary computer language from before APL and BASIC.
The only ones who know that fact are certain IBN engineers, so this function does not appear in the manual.
In 1998, Titor met his young self and his parents from his early life in America.
Titor aspired to be a time traveler as a soldier.
Titor is an American.
Furthermore, several future events that Titor posted about in 2000 came true. The Peruvian coast earthquake in 2001, the election of a new pope, the outbreak of the Iraq War, China's advances in space, and so forth. Though he talked about all of them vaguely, they all came true.
On the other hand, others failed to come true. For example, the Year 2000 Problem, civil war in America, the cancellation of the Beijing Olympics, the inauguration of America's first female president in 2009, and so forth. Let's ask him why those predictions didn't come true.



If he doesn't answer honestly, then the current Titor who descended onto @channel is an impostor. This is your litmus test, John Titor. What colors will you yield?

"Tutturu~♪ Good morning!"





She's smiling now, as if she's been cleared of her resentment over yesterday's food.

"What are you doing here this early?"

"Well, I heard you guys had stayed up two nights in a row, so I brought you provisions!"

"I see. Thanks for your troubles."

To be accurate, I took a nap yesterday, so it wasn't two nights in a row, though.



"Tadah. Canned oden!"

The canned oden is still warm when she gives it to me. Right away, I open the lid and eat the beef. Since Mayuri and I have been together for a long time, she knows what I like.

"It's a present from Mayushii! They're 270 yen each, so savor it, okay?"

"Lately, I've been getting tired of eating bananas and karaage. Please include this in your provisions from now on."

"But Mayushii doesn't have enough pocket money to be that extravagant all the time. Also, Mayushii loves bananas and karaage."

The complaint "Youll get fat if you only eat frozen foods" came to mind, but I dare not say it, since it's not very effective against Mayuri. She has the metabolism to not get fat no matter how much she eats.

"And there's more. Here, tadah!"



"RaiNet sausage! It comes with an Upa bottle cap as an added bonus! I really wanted it, so I bought it."

Let's try to make a prediction. In a few months, this lab will be filled with Upa goods. It all started with that cushion sitting on the sofa, but the number is sure to go through exponential growth.

"So, how's Daru?"

"In the midst of a hard ight. He should at least rest a little. I never said he had to do it all at once."

"Daru's supah hakah spirit is burning up, huh."

"Over there, don't say hakah!"

An empty diet cola bottle comes flying with a whistle. It hits my head with a thunk.

"He sure is tense..."







"But hacking is bad, isn't it? Mayushii doesn't want you to do bad things like that."

"Letting Daru's supah hakah... I mean, hacker skills go to waste is like throwing pearls before swine."

By the way, it seems like SERN's system got hijacked by hackers in 2008, too. When we searched online, we got news hits talking about it. Basically, that means that even the people who developed the world wide web have security holes. With Daru's level of skill, he should have no trouble penetrating such a security hole.

"Besides, this is to disclose the wrongdoings of SERN. This is the war against the huge darkness that rules the world from the shadows!"

"Bad things are bad!"

Well, I know we're doing a bad thing, but while that may be true, there's no way we can stop now. I need to change the subject.

"Mayuri, want to trade my sweet potatoes for your beef?"

"I'd rather have your quail egg."

"Don't be ridiculous! After beef, I like quail eggs the best."

"Mayushii likes quail eggs too."

"Settle for my chikuwa."

"Mm, okay. Chikuwa's better than sweet potatoes."

With that said, I skewer the chikuwa and put it in Mayuri's can. In return, I take her beef.





"Soon... If I can just get the SQL table, I'll have more than enough passwords... gweheheheh... don't underestimate me..."

Daru starts mumbling. Looks like things are slowly settling.

Daru really is a supah hakah. It feels like this is the first time I've seen him serious. He bends forwards, staring holes into the screen, but all that's on the screen is the same string of numbers and letters...



His eyes are completely bloodshot, and he's muttering some creepy monologue. Maybe he's got some strange enthusiasm from lack of sleep.

Daru opens up a new window, types in a 12 letter word, and slams down the enter key. An error sound rings. Then, he quickly deletes the string and enters in a new one.

He keeps repeating that action, and then--