Chapter 11: The Wolf in the Henhouse
The DDoS attack, while ultimately thwarted, left a lingering sense of unease. It was a blunt instrument, but it proved that Alex's small digital kingdom was noticeable enough to be worth attacking. He spent the next 48 hours further hardening his server's defenses, implementing more advanced rate-limiting and intrusion detection systems. The grind was constant: balancing Sentinel's growth, the Nexus Protocol's development, and now, active defense.
The $5,000 mission remained, a stubborn counter on his HUD. The stock market was too volatile to rely on, and Sentinel's subscription revenue, while growing, was a slow trickle. He needed a bigger play, a legitimate consulting gig or a software sale that could generate a significant chunk of cash at once.
An idea began to form, born from the attack itself. If he was facing these kinds of threats, so were thousands of other small businesses and startups. The big security firms like Omni-Secure catered to large corporations with deep pockets. The little guys were left defenseless. The 'AEGIS' Firewall blueprint in his mind wasn't just for his own use; it was a product. But he couldn't launch it yet. It needed to be tested, refined.
He needed a guinea pig. A company with enough tech infrastructure to be a meaningful testbed, but small enough that they'd be desperate for an affordable solution.
His digital marketing efforts for Sentinel had given him a map of the local tech scene. One name kept popping up in forum complaints about security and server stability: "Kismet Games," a small indie mobile game studio in Brooklyn. They had a moderately successful puzzle game, but their servers were constantly being hammered by cheaters and minor attacks, draining their limited resources.
This was his target.
He spent 50 of his 250 Code Points on [BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS SALES (BASIC)]. The knowledge felt alien—understanding pain points, crafting value propositions, handling objections. It was a different kind of code. <—B2B Sales: Business-to-Business sales, which involves longer cycles and more complex decision-making than selling to individual consumers, he mentally noted.
He crafted a carefully worded email to the studio's generic "info@" address, posing as the founder of "Chen Consulting." He didn't mention Aegis directly. Instead, he offered a free, no-obligation security audit, highlighting his recent work in stabilizing network infrastructures for "various tech startups." It was a stretch, but not entirely a lie.
To his surprise, he got a reply the next day from a harried-sounding producer named Mark.
"Frankly, we're desperate. Our server hosts are threatening to drop us due to 'excessive load.' If you can actually help, we'll listen. Can you come to our office tomorrow?"
This was it. His first real business meeting.
The Kismet Games office was exactly what he expected: a converted loft space cluttered with action figures, whiteboards covered in game design scribbles, and a palpable air of creative chaos. Mark, a man in his thirties with a tired eyes and a stained "I Paused My Game For This" t-shirt, greeted him.
"You're Alex? From Chen Consulting?" Mark asked, unable to hide his surprise at Alex's age.
"Yes. I understand you're having server stability issues," Alex said, forcing a confidence he didn't fully feel. He followed Mark to a corner where a rack of servers was humming loudly, their warning lights blinking an angry red.
"It's these damn cheaters," Mark complained. "They're DDoSing our login servers, exploiting vulnerabilities in our game logic. We're a game studio, not a cybersecurity firm. We can't afford an Omni-Secure contract."
"Let me take a look," Alex said.
For the next hour, with Mark looking over his shoulder, Alex connected his ThinkPad to their network. He ran a series of diagnostics, the CODEX system subtly guiding his actions and highlighting vulnerabilities in their code and server configuration. He pointed out unpatched software, weak firewall rules, and the specific endpoints the cheaters were exploiting.
"You see this port?" Alex said, pointing to a stream of malicious traffic on his screen. "They're flooding it with UDP packets. Your firewall is configured to allow that traffic through because your game uses it for player positioning. But it's not filtering for packet size or frequency." <—UDP Packets: A connectionless communication method that's faster than TCP but easier to spoof and use in attacks, he explained to himself.
"Can you fix it?" Mark asked, his skepticism replaced by a glimmer of hope.
"I can," Alex said. "I can implement a temporary filter to stop this specific attack vector immediately. But for a long-term solution, you need a more robust system. I have a proprietary firewall framework in development. I could deploy a beta version on your network. If it works, we can discuss a licensing fee. If it doesn't, you pay nothing."
It was a risky offer. The 'AEGIS' core was untested in the wild. But he needed the real-world data, and they needed a miracle.
"Deal," Mark said without hesitation. "Just make the pain stop."
For the next three days, Alex lived and breathed Kismet's network. He deployed the core 'AEGIS' modules, watching in real-time as it learned the network's normal patterns and began automatically identifying and blocking malicious traffic. He saw it adapt to new attack methods within minutes. It was working. It was brilliant.
The constant red alerts on Kismet's server monitors faded to a steady, peaceful green. The cheaters were locked out.
Mark was ecstatic. "I don't know what you did, kid, but it's like you gave us a forcefield. How much for the license?"
This was the moment. Alex, drawing on his new sales knowledge, didn't name a price. He stated a value. "This system has saved you from potential hosting termination and recovered an estimated forty hours of developer time this week alone. A standard enterprise solution would cost you fifteen thousand dollars a year. For you, as a beta partner, I can offer a perpetual license for five thousand."
He held his breath. It was the exact amount from his mission.
Mark whistled. "Five grand is still a lot for us. But... you're right. It's saving us more than that in headaches and hosting fees. Okay. You've got a deal. I'll have our guy cut you a check."
As Alex walked out of the Kismet office, the check for $5,000 in his pocket felt like a trophy. It was legitimate, earned through skill and negotiation, not hacking or gambling.
[CRISIS MISSION: FAMILY FIRST - COMPLETE.]
[REWARD: 300 CODE POINTS.]
[FOUNDATION MISSION: FIRST ENTERPRISE SALE - COMPLETE.]
[REWARD: 400 CODE POINTS.]
A flood of 700 CP poured in. He was rich, in the system's terms. He now had 900 Code Points. More importantly, he had validation. The 'AEGIS' firewall was a viable product.
He transferred the $5,000 to his family's account, telling his parents it was a major consulting fee. The look of stunned pride on their faces was a reward in itself. He was no longer just their son who was good with computers; he was a provider.
That evening, he met Chloe at their usual library spot. He slid the check across the table. "For the corporate fund. Our first revenue."
Chloe's eyes widened as she read the amount. "Five thousand? From who?"
"Kismet Games. I sold them a license for the Aegis firewall beta."
She stared at him, a new level of respect dawning in her eyes. "You built a firewall and sold it in, what, a week?"
"It was mostly built. I just... customized it for them." He quickly changed the subject. "This proves the model. We can sell Aegis licenses to other small and medium-sized businesses. It'll fund the development of Nexus."
Chloe nodded slowly, a shrewd look on her face. "It's a good plan. A cash-flow business to fund the moonshot." <—Cash-flow business: A business that generates consistent revenue to cover expenses, as opposed to a 'moonshot' which is a high-risk, high-reward long-term project, Alex mentally clarified. "But we need to formalize this. We're partners. We need a partnership agreement. We split the Aegis revenue to fund Nexus development. 50/50."
It was a fair offer. More than fair. She was contributing the ledger, the legal framework, and her own formidable skills.
"50/50," Alex agreed. They shook hands, a silent contract sealing their fate.
As he rode the subway back to Queens, Alex felt a profound shift. He had money in the bank, a partner he trusted, a product in the market, and a family that believed in him. The lonely ghost in the machine was building something real. He had faced down a cyber-attack and turned it into a business opportunity. He was no longer just surviving; he was building.
But in the shadows, the consequences of his success were already stirring. The DDoS attack on Sentinel hadn't been random. It had been a probe, a test of his defenses ordered by a man who hated loose ends. And the sale of a sophisticated firewall to a games studio, a transaction that would soon appear on the radar of a certain CEO, was about to make Alex Chen very, very interesting to the wrong people. The wolf had just walked into the henhouse, and the farmer was starting to take notice.