"Are you kidding me?" Obama asked, clearly taken aback by the absurd justification provided for the absence of the training data.
"Unfortunately, no, Mr. President," Hagel responded, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Based on our investigation and information from insider sources, we have confirmed that the company only constructed the server farm after the program was already developed and he earned enough money to do so."
Hagel paused once again before continuing, his tone filled with concern. "Furthermore, we are facing challenges with utilizing FISA again. The documents released by Snowden have significantly heightened public sensitivity towards surveillance technology. They would exploit this situation and manipulate public opinion, claiming that the government intends to exploit device vulnerabilities for nefarious purposes."
Hagel concluded his explanation, aware of the complex hurdles they were facing.
"How about inviting him for a friendly tea meeting at one of your black sites?" Obama suggested, turning to James, the FBI director.
"Our attempts to do so have been unsuccessful so far. He has been staying at his heavily guarded home ever since the suspected FSB spies attacked. Just as we finalized a plan to capture him despite the heightened security, he started traveling across Europe, carefully covering his tracks along the way. By the time we were able to determine his location and dispatch our team, he would have already moved to another place," James explained.
"Keep searching for alternative methods. With full control over the entire program, we will have no rivals in the cyber warfare domain," Obama instructed.
"Yes, Mr. President," both James and Hagel replied in unison, acknowledging Obama's directive.
.....
Lubyanka Square, Moscow Center.
The Technical Security Department "D" of the FSB, responsible for decrypting and integrating BugZapper into their infrastructure to enhance its security comparable to the level attained by NATO members who acquired the program from the same company (Though in different ways), was convened for a meeting with Sergei Naryshkin, the Director of the Counterintelligence Directorate (UC).
They all appeared anxious, their nervousness palpable, as they were uncertain about the purpose of this meeting.
"The Kremlin has expressed great satisfaction with your efforts in successfully implementing the program across our infrastructure and enhancing its security to the extent that it rivals the systems obtained by NATO members, who paid over 10 billion dollars for them. Additionally, we have even exported the program to our allied nations, granting us greater negotiation power. Well done," Sergei Naryshkin stated and immediately started clapping, which was followed by everyone else in the room joining in.
"Thank you, Sir," expressed Maksim, the Director of Department "D," as he expressed gratitude to Sergei for acknowledging their diligent efforts.
"Your team will be generously rewarded by the Kremlin in the coming months," Sergei announced
The news filled the room with elation and joy, prompting another round of applause from all the department members, expressing their excitement and happiness.
"But your work is not yet complete," Sergei stated after the applause subsided, causing a slight tensing among them.
As everyone's attention refocused on him, Sergei continued, "We require your team to commence the development of the program further, enhancing its capabilities to identify system vulnerabilities even without access to their source code."
"Sir, while it is theoretically possible for us to enhance the program's capabilities to identify system weaknesses without relying on the source code, we have discovered that the program's foundation is built upon the assumption that it has access to the source code to identify and list vulnerabilities. Therefore, to fulfill the capabilities you mentioned, we would need to rebuild the program from scratch, which would be a time-consuming process," Maksim explained. He wanted to ensure that Sergei didn't leave with unrealistic expectations of completing the task within a few months, as he didn't want to face the consequences of disappointing him and potentially slipping and falling through the window of a high-story building while suffering from a hypothetical fatigue-induced sickness.
"You need not worry about time constraints," reassured Sergei. "The Kremlin has granted you a flexible timeline, allowing you more than a year to complete the development. The objective is to have it ready for a forthcoming special operation as it is planned for it to be used for destabilizing the Ukrainian infrastructure."
"Yes, sir. We will exert our utmost efforts to complete the program within the allocated timeline," Maksim responded, feeling relieved to learn that they had more time than initially anticipated. 'It appears that we have been of great value to our beloved mother Russia,' Maksim and his team thought to themselves.
"Keep up the good work, then," Sergei commended, wasting no further time with them. He rose from his seat, bid them farewell, and departed from the conference room, leaving the team behind.
Once Sergei had left and only the team remained, Maksim turned to them and declared, "Comrades, today the vodka is on me!"
"YES!!!!" The team members shouted in celebration at the thought of free vodka.
Subsequently, they departed from Lubyanka Square and headed to the nearest bar to indulge in drinks, taking advantage of the day off granted by Sergei.
...…
Back inside the Lubyanka Square.
Vladimir could be seen sitting in his office, where a prominently displayed nameplate revealed his new position as the Director of Department "A" within the Directorate of Counterintelligence (UC) of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
This particular department held the responsibility for conducting intelligence operations involving clandestine agents commonly known as "illegals."
The term "illegals" refers to intelligence operatives who operate covertly, assuming false identities and blending in as ordinary citizens in foreign countries.
"Did Evgeny Buryakov send us the collected economic intelligence from the United States for the first quarter of this year?" he inquired of his secretary, requesting the report on their undercover operative, who was currently operating in the US under the guise of an investment banker.
"Sir, he reported that he will send us the report by the end of this month, along with the report for the second quarter," his beautiful secretary Natasha informed him.
"What about Maria Butina?" he asked, referring to another operative from their department.
Natasha reviewed the document in her hands and reported, "Maria Butina continues to expand her influence within the political sphere, but she suspects that she is under scrutiny by the FBI and CIA. She has expressed her intention not to report back until she can ascertain the extent of suspicion surrounding her."
Following that he started reviewing all the reports regarding double agents and spies within his division.
After looking through all of them he raised his hand and asked "How is Aron's situation?" seeking an update on Aron's status.
"He is presently visiting various locations in America, but it appears that he only stays in hotels during his visits. There is no additional activity observed, as he simply moves on to another hotel after a certain period of time, sir," Natasha reported, highlighting the unusual nature of Aron's movements.
"But sir, may I ask you something?" Natasha requested permission to pose a question that had been puzzling her.
"Go ahead," Vladimir said, granting her permission to ask the question.
"Why are we keeping a close watch on Aron? He no longer holds any significance for us, and we are merely wasting our limited resources by monitoring him," Natasha questioned.
"You remember that I was promoted because I successfully obtained the important program he developed, right?" Vladimir asked.
"Yes," Natasha answered.
"Then, do you believe he won't develop another one anytime soon?" Vladimir asked.
"No, if he was able to develop one program, it is likely that he would be capable of developing another," Natasha said after a brief pause to think.
"That's precisely why I'm utilizing government resources to monitor him. By doing so, when he develops another program, we will be able to acquire it more swiftly than before," Vladimir clarified, elaborating on his rationale for continuing to keep an eye on Aron.
"But don't you think he's aware of our surveillance? Ever since you shot him, he has significantly heightened his security measures to a worrisome extent, and all of his security team members are professionals in their respective fields," Natasha voiced her concerns.
"He hasn't discovered it yet because if he had, he would have taken action. He still perceives what happened to him as ordinary industrial espionage," Vladimir explained with an amused tone.
"I often wonder, how can someone be so intelligent and yet so oblivious?" Vladimir chuckled as he contemplated the irony of the man who inadvertently facilitated his promotion, unaware that it was orchestrated by a foreign nation.
"Could he be deliberately pretending not to have discovered our surveillance?" Natasha questioned, considering the possibility that Aron's strange behavior might be a deliberate attempt to deceive them.
"I don't believe he would go to such lengths just to play mind games with us. Even if he did discover us, he wouldn't know our true identity or origin. He might simply think that they are surveillance operatives sent by a competing company," Vladimir expressed his disagreement with Natasha's hypothesis. He believed that while Aron was undoubtedly brilliant in software development, he lacked intelligence in other aspects of his life.
