Ardenstone - Day 2 - Page 2a
From Create Your Own Story
Deciding upon a course of action, Kas went to the cupboard beneath the staircase and pulled out the vacuum cleaner. It was a large upright contraption, made by a well known company, and her mother used to complain that it weighed almost as much as it cost. However, they lived in a much larger house than they did then, and it served its purpose well. Even so, vacuum cleaning was one of the worst jobs Kas could think of. The problem was, the other two were even worse. With some effort, Kas dragged the vacuum cleaner up the stairs and plugged it in. She started with the landing, which was probably the least decorated room in the house, and also the easiest to clean. There was no furniture to move or things to pick up. It was also fairly clean. Moving on, she cleaned her father's bedroom, which was he largest of them. He had a huge double bed, which seemed far too big for just himself, but he liked it. Then on to her own room, which meant picking up all he clothes and books first. Kas took a moment to get dressed, then threw the rest of the stuff onto her bed, which was only a single, before running the vacuum cleaner around the bits she could get to easily. Esme's room was the smallest of the lot, but then she was the smallest in the family. Again she had to pick up several toys and items of clothes before she could continue. The bathroom didn't require cleaning, as one of her next jobs was to give it a good scrub down. Unlike some houses, they didn't have any on-suit bathrooms, so they all had to share. There was a separate toilet downstairs, but that was all. So, Kas moved on to her brother's room. She was just about to go in, when she heard the door bell ring.
"Can you get that, Kas?" Her father called, as she ran down the stairs.
"Hello?" She said, opening the front door. It was the postman, although not the one that usually came each morning. This one was tall, bald and at least forty years old.
"Good morning." He said, with a smile. "Here is your mail, and I have a parcel in the van for your father." He said. Kas looked at him curiously, wondering why he had carried it to the door. "It's a bit heavy, and I've got a bad back. Would you mind?" He asked.
"Oh, sure." Kas said, satisfied with his explanation, put on a pair of shoes from the rack and followed him out to his van. The parcel looked much smaller than she expected, and she could have carried it on her own, although it was quite heavy. But the postman said he couldn't lift it without hurting his back.
"You're a very pretty thing." The postman said as she bent down to lift the box. "What's your name?"
"Kas." She replied, standing back up. They held the box between them and he walked backwards as they carried it inside.
"And how old are you?" He asked, as if trying to make polite small talk.
"Erm... Fourteen" Kas answered politely in return. The parcel was not for her father at all, but for Wes, probably another of his collectors models that he kept ordering online.
"Would you like me to help you in with it?" He asked when they reached the door. Kas shook her head and told him that her father was in if she needed help. He said goodbye and departed as Kas lugged the box indoors and up the stairs. She took it straight to her brother's room, and set it down next to his desk. In doing so she knocked the mouse of his computer, and the monitor burst into life. Normally he locked the computer whenever he wasn't in, and it looked like he had meant to that morning. However, the computer had not locked, properly. Suddenly filled with curiosity, Kas slid into his chair and started browsing through his computer. Coming from a family of computer experts, she was fairly good with them herself, and quickly found what she wanted, the password to his computer. With that, she could get into his computer at any time. She considered changing it, but realised he would find out. Kas then went through his picture and music files. However, there was nothing much of interest there. Deciding that she should get on with her work, she went into the computer's history to delete any evidence that she had been on there. To her delight, Kas found something in there worth looking at. It was not exactly what she had hoped to find, but she considered opening the folder anyway. The pathway led to a well hidden folder, somewhere she wouldn't normally have looked, but Wes had obviously been into it earlier that morning because it was still in the history. The folder name was cryptic, using a mixture of letters and characters to form '+3R€e$'. Kas remembered Wes teaching her about it years ago. The word spelt backwards said 'Secret'. Opening the file was tempting, but she had work to do, and she knew Wes would be home soon.
What should Kas do?
Consequences
Computer security is extremely important, regardless of what you use your computer for, or store on it. Governments and organisations around the world worry constantly about computer security, whether it be people attempting to hack their security, cyber crimes, or trying to control the spread of pornography and so called indecent material. However, it doesn't matter how secure your computer is, if you leave it switched on, unlocked and unattended, anything can happen.
