Sheiny was walking one evening down the street. It was wet from rain. But not raining currently. She was contemplating about the situation with Mr. Hambleton and his choice of the operating system. He was too paranoid to use a system for paranoid people. It did not sit right in her head. Some people, she found out from Mr. Humbert, do not trust Tor and the Onion Routing. Their general concern comes from the origin of the software. The US government. They had started the project so their troops could communicate securely from any point in the world. And they later decided to Free this technology so more people could use it as well.
When you want to trust a piece of software, but see that it's origin is not trustworthy, it's easy not to trust it. She thought that this too didn't make sense. The fact that the software is Free, the fact that the source code is available, readable and build-able, would make for an easy enough argument to trust that software no matter who originally developed it. But then, non-programmers, she thought, do not care about this kind of stuff. They cannot verify the program even if they had the source code. They cannot make changes in the program. They evaluate it the same way they evaluate non-free programs. By the track record. By the history. By the believes of the people that make this software.
But Mr. Hambleton had a different type of paranoia. He agreed on that Free Software tents to be more secure. He just didn't want to be seen near it. Because being seen near it screamed abnormality of some kind. As if he thought that his choice of software defines his character as a whole. That maybe an even slightly more organized desktop, or perhaps a changed theme, or an absence of full bio in the Facebook account will make him stand out of the crowd just enough, so a sea of blame for all kind of atrocities will come his way.
Sheiny stopped thinking about it for a moment. Two police officers were passing her way in-front of her. She felt a chilling feeling. They have to be after me, she thought for a second. They have passed her by. What a shame, she thought. Instead being actually good at convincing people not to do crimes, governments instead force people stupidly to obey laws. Law enforcement it's called. She herself didn't obey all laws. Mr. Hambleton didn't. But there was nothing bad which was produced as a result. There was no need for the Police to even look at their case. It was all mostly harmless. Yes, it was shameful to act in these films of her. But it was this way just because she felt above it. Chloe doesn't feel that kind of shame.
Does Law Enforcement enforce people to use software that they do not like? What if Mr. Hambleton is so scared of good programs only because of his fear of the Police? Was he afraid more to be different, or more that from all the accusations that could happen from being different, one would be true? Weird. With Windows the Police would've found out about him way sooner then with GNU / Linux. But the question remained. What was Mr. Hambleton afraid of exactly?
Few mornings prior to that Sheiny was walking towards Richie and his gang. She did not forget her idea of expanding the cast of the show. More than that. Sheiny thought that she doesn't want to be an actor in the show anymore. Rather give this privilege to the new actor and the magnificent Chloe. She didn't want Richie. He was a rough boy. He would probably turn off most of the customers. By speaking to Mr. Humbert who was interested in quality of the show, she found out a few facts taken from the various customers of his, that he kept anonymous.
He was speaking with pure statistics as to not give out anybody's identity by mistake. He counted that from his current customer base, about fifty three percent of people were more excited to see a boy and a girl, rather then two girls. Most of them regarded that the boy should be older. Preferably as old as they are. Some didn't want to see any boys at all. They were against an idea of looking at a bare male body. In other word, they were afraid of incidental homosexuality. The tastes of the body shape and other factors varied drastically. But it was highly probable to work more on images of tight skin, rather then saggy bags.
Fat people, old women with saggy breast and people who had been fatter before, but now are not, are considered not desirable by most customers. It's not much about the actual thinness of a given actor. But about the tightness of the skin. You could imagine taking a plastic bag and putting it over a pillow so tight that no wrinkles could be seen. This is the kind of skin that should a good actor have. Some may look what's called "Chubby". A bit fatter, maybe just slightly lower in height. But as long as the skin doesn't just flap around by it self, it's okay.
Sheiny had a slight chub on her thighs. Not very bad. The skin was still tight, just the silhouette of the leg was a tit-bit wider near the stomach. Chloe was very good. She was thin and light. No such chub could be observed on Chloe. She was not anorexic either. Those girls fall out of the attractive zone pretty quickly because of they unhealthy look. Chloe wasn't eating nothing. She was eating just enough to keep herself perfect for the camera. She did not prepare it, per say. She was perhaps naturally gifted with the good looks.
One more thing that Mr. Humbert told Sheiny is that his customers do not like to be cheated. They do not like pretend play from adults that try children's outfits. They do not like uncertainty. You cannot simply point the camera at a part of someones body that by it's look does not communicate a clear age of the person. This is why, even though it's very risky, it was better to see the faces of the actors. It would calm down the customers, communicating that it's all for real.
Richie, with all it's authority, had quite a chub. He wasn't fat, per say, but that would not be good for Sheiny. His gang members were two kids. One, Thomas, very fat boy. Not good. Nobody is going to buy this. Even though Thomas was probably dragged into the gang outside of his will. He was a very nice kid. Never did anything at all. Just walked by the gang. Sometimes he would try to look intimidating. It would not help. The boy had quite a heart. Sheiny caught herself on a thought about Thomas.
With Mr. Humbert she was talking plain statistics. And no numbers were absolute. Meaning some people actually will prefer Thomas. And his wobbly look. This is a potential thing that she could sell. The second Freedom of Free Software, Freedom one, came through her mind. The Freedom to study the source code of the program and make modifications to it. So the program does what you want and only want you want. What if this person, who likes chubby boys, comes across a well produced episode of Sheiny's films. He will look at all the tight bodies of all the actors and will not find a single person to enjoy from. He could've taken the source code, perhaps some files that she could give. And assemble a film the way he likes. Too complex! She thought immediately. But the thought kept moving back and forth through her mind.
Mark was a fit boy. Not the nicest at character. He had his moments of wit. But he was not quite Richie. He wore shorts that day. Not too short. The kind that ends right before the knee starts. But judging by the leg underneath it and the shape of his arms, Sheiny knew that Mark is worth trying with. The only thing that was unclear was, how exactly to start a conversation? This was no other girl to speak with. A boy is a whole other level of magnitude more difficult. The steps that Sheiny was taking started to get heavier and heavier. It's not even a harmless "I love you." that some kids might do. She is going to ask him something completely on other level. And also she was not in love with him. He just was the boy that looked a part for the role.
Sheiny stopped and the boys gone past her. She lost her opportunity to speak to him. She needed a plan. Something cleverer. She didn't want to lie to him about the nature of the shoot. This was unacceptable from her perspective. But something a bit more clever than simply coming up and talking to him was needed.
To ask Richie for drugs was not the way to go. He would've denied any knowledge of this. Instead they operated using WhatsApp. He was convinced that it's "secure" because the developers said so. Of course it was a stupid idea. Even to use Telegram was a stupid idea. Telegram has a Free client. But a secret and completely proprietary server side. There is nobody but the Telegram company that can control the server. Even more then that, by default all messages are stored on the server in an unencrypted form. This was a known vulnerability. But compared to some other messengers and since Telegram's client is Free, you could still recommend it.
Sheiny needed something way better then Telegram though. Definitely Free Software. Perhaps something that she could design herself. But maybe it wasn't needed. Jami existed after all. Her plan was a little bit too complex for a normal person. But she thought that it would be too boring to do it differently. The biggest mistake by Richie was the way people figured out how to contact him. Perhaps it wasn't that big of a deal. The principal of the school knew about the selling of drugs, but didn't know about Richie. The principal and all of the teachers of the school, including Mr. Hambleton used a special, separate toilet on the third floor. Non of them used the kid's toilets. It was considered unacceptable. Richie, being a complete imbecile, wrote his phone number, with an image on Weed leafs and a word "WhatsApp" in the toilet of the fourth floor. The slightly clever part of it was that this phone number was lost in the rest of graffiti, all done by cheap pens. Sheiny came to that cabin with a pen, and stroked the number. Putting a little arrow to a code of random characters and the link "Jami.net". She tried her best at drawing the logo of the app, but the result was not very good.
Next was some way of making Richie actually see the number. It was good news that the number it self did not require the use of WhatsApp to be called at. You could call it directly. But calling Richie wasn't the best idea. He would just disregard her. Something much scarier should have been designed. For a single pass into the shooting area of the shed, during production, Mr. Hambleton agreed to falsify a police call. He would pretend to be a police officer while calling Richie and asking about the drugs. He would mention the number in toilet. And would say something along the lines of "If the number will not be removed from the cabin by the morning. We are going to get you.". On a side note, which took Sheiny by surprise, being allowed inside during the shooting didn't effect Mr. Hambleton's behaviour. He didn't try to touch them or anything. He just quietly observed from the side. It was almost saddening to see. He did nothing at all. Not even to himself.
Richie came to the cabin immediately after the call. He found out the link and installed the app. A message "Who is this?" appeared on Sheiny's computer not long after the call was done. "Come to the computer class" typed Sheiny "with the gang.". A few minutes passed until a peeking eye of Thomas could be seen at the corner of the door. Mr. Hambleton gently invited the boys in. Richie was nervously searching for the police, or something. Mr. Hambleton was the normal sight in the computer class. So was Sheiny. Chloe was also there. Richie's phone buzzed. "There is no police" was a new message on his phone.
"Who is typing this?" angrily asked Richie. "I give up. It's me." said Sheiny. The next part of the plan had started. While Sheiny would explain Richie the danger of using WhatsApp. And how he has to be more careful. Chloe was casually talking to Mark and Thomas. It was casual only for the boys. Chloe knew what she was doing. She was looking for ways to make Mark agree with the shooting of the stuff. But first. The stuff itself had to be communicated somehow. She could not show them anything. The computer class had four security cameras. The computers were way to expensive to leave without it. Chloe, without any hesitation at all, called Mark closer. And spoke something silently into his ear. The boy reacted with shock. Something that she told him made him look around, take her by hand and walk with her out the door of the computer class. Sheiny noticed it.
Later Chloe told Sheiny that they went into the school's toilet. Where they played the game "Show me yours and I'll show you mine.". Mark was not very against the idea of selling this stuff too. He was selling drugs after all. But something about him being in the stuff made him uneasy. He would not be against doing such a thing casually. But only when the cameras were not recording. When Sheiny heard that, a sad realization of a failed plan went through her. She remembered the four essential freedoms. It had nothing to do with the situation, but, as Sheiny realized, it's not requirements at all. It's just freedoms. Somewhere inside of her, Sheiny knew that she has nothing to do, but to agree with Mark. If he doesn't want, it's his Freedom not to do it. They've let him know that if he changes his mind he can come. But meanwhile Sheiny thought about more actors.
The two Police Officers just went pass Sheiny as she though how stupid the whole idea of the Law Enforcement is. It's not like they argue with people to convince them not to do crimes. And leave them with freedom to still do crimes. They force people to do what the law wants. What freedom is this? The sad environment around Sheiny made her to desire a bottle of the sparkling juice. She went into the nearest shop to buy one. There a man was looking at her suspiciously. A police man? Did they track me somehow? The man didn't take his eyes off her if she wasn't directly watching him back. She chose a glass bottle this time. Her plan was to smash it on his head when he comes out. She payed and went out the store. Hiding round the corner. Waiting for the man to get out.
Paranoia, she thought. Maybe it was one of her customers. She doesn't know them. It could be one. It could be even somebody that saw her stuff without Mr. Hambert. It was definite that the stuff was spread by some of the customers on the Dark Web. Perhaps millions of people already watched it. The last two freedoms came through her mind. People should be free to share copies. It's okay if millions of people saw it. It's okay if it spreads freely. But is it okay that they share this private stuff like this?
The man came out. Sheiny failed to react. She felt a sudden urge to do something. And the best she could was to smash the bottle immediately in-front of her. The glass shards touched the skin of her legs. Making very thin, but painful pink lines all over them. The man stopped and looked back at Sheiny. She was already crying from the wounds. The man didn't seem to start helping her. He was not sure what to do. He just stared at her stupidly for some time while she was crying.
"Help me!" screamed Sheiny at the man. Finally the man broke his stance and came closer. He looked around as if being chased by somebody. While he did this action she could take a good look at his features. He was not young. She would give him thirty. Maybe a bit less. Not shaved properly. Not wearing good clothes. But he had a very pretty pare of blue eyes. Something about these eyes and the overall face of the man made Sheiny curious about this man. "Can you help me get home?" she asked of him. She didn't need help. She could walk just fine. The wounds were very mild. But she thought she might get to know him a bit. "Where do you live?" he asked. "Right there" she answered, pointing her finger.
She would try to ask him questions. Where he lived? Who he was? What was his name? Age? Work? She didn't dare to ask him if he saw her in the stuff that she produces. But she was sure that he knew her. Something seemed interesting about this man. What she figured out from him was that his name was Mendel. His girlfriend should be living somewhere near this area. He doesn't know where exactly. They didn't speak for years. Circumstances moved them apart. He is not sure even that she likes him anymore. "Do you have any children with her..." she asked "... I might know them. I know a lot of children from this area." He said that he doesn't know if he had a child with her. They parted so abruptly that maybe one kid would be born since. But whether he even had a child, he didn't know for sure.
Sheiny asked him why he was watching her in the store. And he told her that her face looked interesting. He felt a desire to look at it. Perhaps he didn't see his girlfriend for so long, that he forgot how she looked. And he tried desperately to piece her face back together from faces of the girls around here. Sheiny just happened to stand in his sight. But also Sheiny had a very interesting face of her own. Maybe that's why he kept starring. "Am I pretty?" she asked Mendel, making his cheeks to become rouge. He smiled, not knowing whether it appropriate to answer the truth. "You are cute little girl." he said. He made sure that she can walk. Put her in front of the building where she lived. And went away.
Sheiny knew a few things about Mendel. She knew his name. She knew where he lived. She knew his place of work. He was not the 15 to 17 years old boy. He was not as precise as Mark. But she would like to act with him. She herself. Not merely giving all the job to Chloe. The only problem was, how to convince a real man like this? What should be the next plan? She looked at her legs and the wounds disappeared almost completely. She walked. She was not living in that house. She had lied to him. And while she walked, she was planning a new plan.
