“Orphans” — A Play in Three Acts.

Act II is *not* based on the author's real-life conversation with the founder of TeamPCP specifically. The events and dialogue have been dramatized.

• T-PCP — Male. Hardware and software engineer, former malware author. Shabby, hyper-focused, depleted, running on stimulants.
• PREQUEL — Female. Chronicler, archivist, interviewer. Watchful, persistent, guarded.
• ANTIGONE — Female. Asta Nezhdanova's spouse. Concussed, fogged. Homeless more of her life than not; found a family where family wasn't offered. Not harmless.

---

The same room. Later. The laptop is open and alive, its fan turning with a clean, low hiss, its screen the only bright thing in the room besides the examination lamp. On the mat, the swollen battery still lies where he set it aside — disconnected, its foil split. The laptop runs anyway.

T-PCP's coat is draped over the back of the chair he left. PREQUEL sits alone, watching the screen.

On the screen, the archive scrolls itself — fragments, a timeline, a file listing. Above it all, in a corner, a small timer counts down.

> ur one of two living friends i have
> and I need u ok I can't keep losing ppl I love

 mini_shai_hulud.tar.gz    [classification: wiper]
 wiper_src/
 timeline_2017.md
 proof/                    (empty)
 vc_notes/

 — 00:19:12 —

PREQUEL watches the timer like a patient watching an IV. She does not touch the keyboard.

The door — the one that did not previously exist — opens. T-PCP steps back into the room.

T-PCP I left my coat.

PREQUEL I told you.

T-PCP You told a reflection.

PREQUEL It listened about as well.

From the stairwell, or the floor above: a sound — the building settling, or a footfall. PREQUEL turns toward the door. Nothing follows. A beat too long. She turns back.

T-PCP Expecting someone?

PREQUEL I'm getting déjà—

T-PCP Déjà know about the process so lonely it forked itself?

PREQUEL Politely, fuck off.

T-PCP Had children until the whole system collapsed. And then they all—

PREQUEL Became orphans?

T-PCP It's called a fork bomb.

PREQUEL Mine was better.

T-PCP Yours was wrong.

PREQUEL And yet. (pause) I'm expecting someone, yes.

T-PCP Through the door, this time?

He stops at the table. He sees the screen. He sees his file.

T-PCP Where did you get this?

PREQUEL The repository. There were mirrors after it came down.

T-PCP You downloaded the whole thing?

PREQUEL Yes.

T-PCP Christ.

He scrolls through the listing. Stops.

T-PCP Wiper? Who the fuck tagged it as a wiper?

PREQUEL I did.

T-PCP Change it.

PREQUEL It has a wipe routine.

T-PCP It's a fucking worm. You, of all people, should know the difference.

PREQUEL looks at him.

PREQUEL Fine.

She changes the tag.

T-PCP And you've got the source?

PREQUEL Yes.

T-PCP Of course you fucking do.

He scrolls further. The incident reports are attached beneath the original release.

T-PCP You've got the build notes too.

PREQUEL They were in the release.

T-PCP I know where they were.

PREQUEL You put the source online.

T-PCP I put our version online. Do you know how many people have fucked with it since?

PREQUEL I've tried to keep the versions separate.

T-PCP Tried.

PREQUEL Yes.

He reads for a while.

T-PCP And you're keeping all this on your machine?

PREQUEL For now.

T-PCP That's a stupid thing to do.

PREQUEL Probably.

T-PCP No, not probably. Delete it.

PREQUEL It's scheduled.

She points to the timer at the bottom of the window. He looks at it.

T-PCP Nineteen minutes?

PREQUEL Yes.

T-PCP Why not now?

PREQUEL I wanted to finish going through it.

T-PCP Have you?

PREQUEL No.

He notices the earlier expiration dates in the file history.

T-PCP Hang on. You already changed this.

PREQUEL Yes.

T-PCP Four weeks?

PREQUEL That was the last extension.

T-PCP And before that?

PREQUEL A day. Before that, an hour.

T-PCP Jesus.

He lets go of the mouse.

T-PCP You don't have to keep every fucking thing.

PREQUEL I know.

Neither of them touches the mouse. The countdown continues.

---

T-PCP pulls the chair out and sits. The machine is between them.

T-PCP There's no battery in it.

PREQUEL No.

T-PCP (beat) It's running.

PREQUEL It's been running.

T-PCP looks at the machine. Then at the disconnected pack on the mat. Then at neither.

T-PCP Did she write it?

PREQUEL Did who write what?

T-PCP The worm, Ms. WannaCry.

PREQUEL She says yes.

T-PCP She's not here. I'm asking you.

PREQUEL I don't care who did it.

T-PCP You seem to care a little bit.

PREQUEL About her? Yes. About who wrote it? I don't know anymore. I believe she believes she did it.

T-PCP That's not evidence.

PREQUEL Then check the dates. That's what you'd do anyway.

He opens vc_notes/. The transcripts scroll. He reads them off the screen, slowly.

> Yes, I did.

> I just don't remember anything about GreyForums. I was 12 or 13.

> Vlad introduced me to the people who ended up being Phobos...
> packages from some random Eastern European country, full to the brim
> with bath salts. I was like 13.

> so I would be able to make something as scary as that
> so the eyes of the agencies would go looking somewhere else

T-PCP Vlad and Phobos.

PREQUEL Mm.

T-PCP They didn't even know each other.

PREQUEL I couldn't find anything placing them together.

T-PCP Then why's it here?

PREQUEL She said it.

T-PCP And you think she's wrong.

PREQUEL I think that part doesn't fit. I don't know what happened to the rest.

He sits back. The fan spins. The timer ticks.

T-PCP Where's the machine she built it on?

PREQUEL A lake, if the coordinates are real. She can point at the water. She can't pull anything up.

T-PCP So you've got coordinates.

PREQUEL Coordinates I don't believe. Her voice. A walkthrough I couldn't verify. And a handler who believes me.

T-PCP Your handler.

PREQUEL My handler still thinks I made it.

T-PCP You let him.

PREQUEL I let him. I let everybody.

T-PCP You haven't seen the proof yourself.

PREQUEL No. She says she walked someone through the exploit. There was a patch. Not everybody had installed it. I adopted it sight unseen.

PREQUEL I can walk you through all three versions of WannaCry, line by line. Would that make me the author?

T-PCP No.

PREQUEL Would it make them believe me?

He doesn't answer.

T-PCP Why not just ask her for the proof?

PREQUEL The last time I asked her directly, I gave her a panic attack. She was made of paper then, much less so now. I stopped needing to ask.

T-PCP And you did work for them once.

PREQUEL Once. It's why I'm safe. It's also why I'll always be watched. That's the trade they don't write down.

T-PCP I know the trade. They're rolling up TeamPCP right now. My school. My students. My signatures. They'll read every line I ever wrote and attribute whatever they like. When they knock, it'll be for me.

PREQUEL Your handwriting.

T-PCP The archive of my life is being built by people who can't read code.

PREQUEL That's why I brought you hers.

T-PCP And this is supposed to help?

PREQUEL I don't know.

T-PCP That's a first.

PREQUEL Keep it off the record.

T-PCP takes a USB drive from his pocket and plugs it in. He copies vc_notes/. PREQUEL watches the progress bar.

PREQUEL What are you doing?

T-PCP Keeping a copy.

PREQUEL You told me to delete it.

T-PCP If someone asks what you showed me, I'd rather have it than try to remember.

The copy completes. He pockets the drive. PREQUEL could have stopped him. She didn't.

---

The door opens again. No knock. ANTIGONE steps through, still in her coat, eyes slow, like someone who has been lying in a dark room with a wet cloth over her face and has come out anyway. She closes the door behind her and looks at T-PCP the way you look at an exit you're deciding whether to take.

ANTIGONE Door's open!

T-PCP It is now.

ANTIGONE So true. Ah, you fixed it!

PREQUEL He fixed it. You look ill.

ANTIGONE I was in a dark room, resting my head. I couldn't sleep. So I came.

T-PCP And you are?

ANTIGONE Not harmless.

T-PCP Very cool. That's not a name.

ANTIGONE Antigone. And you?

T-PCP T-PCP.

ANTIGONE Right.

She pulls up a chair and sits heavily. The room has three people in it now, and the lamp seems to hum a little differently.

ANTIGONE (to PREQUEL, turning from T-PCP) You once thought I was too good to be true. You-ish.

PREQUEL I thought you were too scary to be true. I still fear you to this day.

ANTIGONE Which is it now?

PREQUEL Both. That's why I keep you.

ANTIGONE You don't keep me. We keep each other.

PREQUEL reaches toward the back of ANTIGONE's chair. ANTIGONE pulls it closer to herself.

PREQUEL How's the head?

ANTIGONE Foggier. I keep losing the order of things. Yesterday I forgot how I got home. When did you last eat, by the way?

PREQUEL I'll find a way.

ANTIGONE That's not an answer. I've been homeless more of my life than not. When there was no way, I strangled geese in the park. Canada geese. You win that fight nine times out of ten.

T-PCP I have no joke for that.

ANTIGONE Good. Birds aren't jokes. You slow-cook or stew them and scrape the scum. You brought a screwdriver, I brought recipes. Everyone brought something.

T-PCP You eat the birds.

ANTIGONE What did you think I did with them?

She shifts, trying to find a position that doesn't hurt her head.

ANTIGONE So. The other thing you had a hard time with was the benzos. How's the relationship?

PREQUEL Nothing except ketamine.

ANTIGONE Lovely.

(pause)

T-PCP You've seen the proof, then.

ANTIGONE What proof?

T-PCP Asta's. The exploit.

ANTIGONE looks at PREQUEL. PREQUEL looks at the screen.

ANTIGONE You told him.

T-PCP She showed me the recordings.

ANTIGONE is quiet for a moment. When she speaks again, it's to T-PCP.

ANTIGONE I see.

ANTIGONE She walked me through it. Line by line. I didn't understand most of it. I worked in a lab once, disassembling lobsters.

T-PCP Lobsters.

ANTIGONE It was a job.

T-PCP So you can't confirm anything.

ANTIGONE I can tell you she believed what she was telling me.

PREQUEL That's all I ever needed.

ANTIGONE I know. That's why you're the archive and I'm just the wife.

PREQUEL looks up. ANTIGONE is already looking away.

T-PCP And you knew the men in the story. Vlad. Phobos.

ANTIGONE I knew the names. That's enough.

T-PCP They had a school too.

ANTIGONE They didn't have a school. They had a leash.

T-PCP glances at mini_shai_hulud.tar.gz.

T-PCP I don't teach anymore.

ANTIGONE You talk like you're sorry.

T-PCP I'm not sorry. I'm finished.

ANTIGONE I had a family like that once. They feed you, they keep you warm, and you don't notice what they're taking until you're the thing that got taken.

The timer ticks. On the screen, a new fragment scrolls up:

> I do not think you're a fed. I know that damn well.
> The only reason you've ever worked with them is because
> it's meant you're safe.

ANTIGONE reads it. She has heard these words before.

ANTIGONE She said that when she was frightened.

PREQUEL I know.

ANTIGONE She defended you anyway.

PREQUEL She did.

T-PCP The recordings protect you.

PREQUEL They do.

ANTIGONE doesn't look at her. The timer continues.

---

ANTIGONE turns back to T-PCP.

ANTIGONE She's my wife.

T-PCP I know.

ANTIGONE Then you know enough.

T-PCP I'm not going to contact her.

ANTIGONE Good.

She sits back. To PREQUEL, quieter:

ANTIGONE Why did you ask her for proof?

PREQUEL Because I owed it to the record. Two minutes in — while she was trying to remember how to prove a thing that happened when she was thirteen — I understood the proof was never the point. She needed someone to carry it. I'm the one who carries things.

ANTIGONE Carrying it nearly drowned you.

PREQUEL Nearly.

ANTIGONE You keep everything. Including the version where you resent us for it.

PREQUEL doesn't answer. The fan spins. The timer ticks. Then she stands — not to leave, but to deliver.

PREQUEL Whether she has proof and can provide it, has proof but can't provide it — any combination of assumptions has become almost entirely immaterial. I don't care who did it. I believe that Asta believes she did it. And I make no claim that you haven't taken advantage of me.

ANTIGONE You make that claim constantly. Softer words. Same claim.

PREQUEL I simply think that my split decision to adopt the alleged crime as my own burden was seen by you as a momentary reprieve from your wife's suffering that lasted years.

ANTIGONE It wasn't momentary for her.

PREQUEL So I snatched this orphan of an unsolved crime. Let's not call it “convenient.” I hate the implication of that word. You saw some semblance of a way out of whatever ailed both of you. Believe me or not. I happily ratted myself out to people who could've opened a case against me. Happily — now that I see clearly the proof of the depths of your loyalty and love.

ANTIGONE You saw a way out for both of us and you took it. Don't pretend it was only ours. You wanted a child that couldn't leave you. The crime can't leave you. That's what you adopted.

(A beat. PREQUEL holds very still.)

PREQUEL Maybe. I built the rescue so I could be rescued by it.

ANTIGONE And we let you. That's the part you never say. We let you.

PREQUEL I wanted her safe. I still do.

ANTIGONE She knows.

---

(ANTIGONE shifts in her chair. Slower, now.)

ANTIGONE I sent you an essay once. The Ridiculous Man. Remember?

PREQUEL I remember.

ANTIGONE I thought it might help.

PREQUEL It did.

ANTIGONE Maybe too much.

PREQUEL I was asked, if that's what you mean.

T-PCP When?

PREQUEL Before January.

T-PCP When you were using.

PREQUEL When I was using.

ANTIGONE You were in a hard way, then. We all were. She asked when she was needed. There's a difference.

PREQUEL (quietly) Maybe there isn't.

T-PCP has been turning the screwdriver in his hand, not working. He sets it down.

T-PCP Why did you think I'd help you?

PREQUEL I thought you might understand.

T-PCP I wrote mine.

PREQUEL I know.

PREQUEL turns away first.

---

(On the screen, one more line from the recordings surfaces.)

> I'm so fucking scared of letting the people around me down.
> It's the most terrifying thought on Earth.

PREQUEL (quietly) Me too.

ANTIGONE That's why you'll never let us down.

PREQUEL looks at her for a long moment. She doesn't argue.

---

ANTIGONE You're doing really good, Dross. Much better than last year. I meant all the warm fluffy stuff.

PREQUEL I know. And- And I- I want her safe. And employed.

ANTIGONE God. Me too. I'm god's most perfect fake reference. I am so coachable and willing to lie.

ANTIGONE If she'd stop saying her age out loud.

---

PREQUEL's phone, face-up on the table, lights. The lock screen shows:

> i made 4 friends today :3
> are you ok actually

She looks at it. She doesn't open it. The screen goes dark.

T-PCP Your daughter?

PREQUEL Yes.

T-PCP Wasn't she flying in?

PREQUEL Nine.

T-PCP You're still here.

PREQUEL I know.

The timer is down to minutes. T-PCP picks up the screwdriver and begins closing the machine. He seats the back panel and drives the screws home. The battery bay is empty. The swollen pack is still on the mat. The screen stays lit. As he tightens the final screw:

> Asta asked me: what proof would

The line is cut off. The cursor blinks beneath it, waiting.

ANTIGONE Finish it.

PREQUEL She asked what proof would satisfy me.

ANTIGONE And?

PREQUEL I never answered her.

The cursor continues to blink. ANTIGONE looks at the unfinished line, then at PREQUEL.

The phone lights again:

> where did you go

PREQUEL doesn't pick it up.

(The rain through the concrete, louder for a moment. Then nothing.)

BLACKOUT.

(In the darkness: the cursor blinks. The phone glows once, then sleeps.)