American History 1988
Chapter 76 - 71 Successive Events

Chapter 76: Chapter 71 Successive Events

In the server room of the Youngstown court, Dean was lying in wait.

Ever since he had seen the credit report issued by EasyRent, he had formed a vague hunch. If EasyRent’s data weren’t coming from the public access point offered by the Youngstown court or from the EasyRent software itself, then the most likely source was directly from the server.

This was the only way to explain why there was a structural difference between the opponent’s data and EasyRent’s. Dean was now there to verify his idea; he had been waiting for a day, but the mysterious visitor still hadn’t appeared.

"Dean, would you rather stay in this machine room, which even a mouse would avoid, instead of going out for a coffee with me?" Lorraine, with her red hair, stood at the doorway, clearly unenthusiastic, utterly unable to comprehend why her charm was losing out to these silent machines.

Dean, while monitoring the computer screen, intermittently tapped on the keyboard. "Lorraine, I really have some very important work right now, it concerns the privacy of everyone in Youngstown."

"Dean, the world doesn’t need you to save it. If there are any problems, the big shots will have them solved in advance," Lorraine said, suspecting that Dean was fobbing her off. Could it be because of the freckles on her face? But she had carefully covered them up with foundation that day.

Truth be told, Dean had no interest in Lorraine, who was so pale she seemed bloodless, and under the lights, he could even see her makeup reflecting brightly. Too greasy. After having tasted skin as creamy as Ophelia’s milk, Dean had become quite fastidious.

Just as he thought about making up an excuse to politely decline, suddenly there was a beeping sound from a server in the room, and a yellow signal light started flashing, indicating something.

"F*ck! I’ve finally caught you!" Dean completely ignored Lorraine standing at the door, as he was now tracking where exactly this unexpected guest had penetrated from.

As Dean’s fingers flew across the keyboard, leaving after-images in their wake, he managed to catch a glimmer of the intruder’s trail.

"Aha, so it’s here." It had to be said, this colleague had some skills; he had found a vulnerability that Dean hadn’t paid attention to while editing the DCAP. Using it, the mysterious guest had successfully bypassed the firewall and entered the server’s interior.

This confirmed Dean’s guess that this person was very likely EasyRent’s accomplice. Only data obtained directly from the server would lack the stylistic "signatures" that Dean had left behind.

However, even though he had found the vulnerability, Dean didn’t act rashly. He needed to preserve evidence, so there was no rush to patch the security gap.

"Lorraine, sorry, I need to see Judge Ritter," Dean said, after setting up the program, and then he left the server room and headed straight to Judge Ritter’s office upstairs.

In the hallway, Wedner had already been waiting, "How’s it going, got anything?"

"Of course," Dean nodded confidently at the other party, "In Youngstown, my computer skills have never met their match."

"Ok, then we’ve got work to do." Excited, Wedner rubbed his hands together and walked side by side with Dean towards Judge Ritter’s office.

They had just reached the door of the office when they ran into Judge Ritter’s assistant, Bennie. She immediately came up to them when she saw them, "Hi, Dean. Judge Ritter heard you’ve been working in the server room these past days, so she asked me to call you to her office. Now that I’ve bumped into you, that’s perfect~"

Dean and Wedner exchanged glances, each seeing the surprise on the other’s face. It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it? They hadn’t divulged any information about this to anyone.

"Okay, thank you, Bennie. We also have some things we’d like to discuss with Judge Ritter," Dean said.

After greeting her, Dean led Wedner into Judge Ritter’s office by knocking on the door.

"Dean, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Charles from the National Cash Register Company (NCR), and his partner William. Oh~ Wedner, you’re here too," Judge Ritter turned and noticed Wedner following Dean halfway through the introductions.

"Honorable Judge Ritter, seeing you is like seeing the sun, justice will surely shine upon the earth!" Wedner bowed to Ritter with a smile, as the lawyer he was already well-acquainted with the judge.

"Er... Mr. Wedner is currently acting as my personal lawyer," Dean explained why Wedner was there to Judge Ritter, standing between them.

"Oh, Mr. Charles, right? And Mr. William..." Dean didn’t forget about the other two guests in the room, he walked up and shook hands with them.

NCR was a company headquartered in Ohio, starting out in the 1920s with electric cash registers and now had moved on to computer cash registers. NCR had never held less than 60% of the market share, a true industry giant.

The appearance of Charles and William matched Dean’s impression of those from big companies, smartly dressed, meticulous, with a white handkerchief peeking out of the pocket on the left side of their chest for etiquette.

Wow~ full of style.

"Dean? William has high praise for your DCAP," said the somewhat older Charles, offering his compliments to Dean with utmost courtesy.

Standing beside him, William smiled amiably at Dean. "Good Job, its performance is quite impressive."

"Thank you," Dean was pleased that his work had been recognized, but why had Judge Ritter introduced him to people from NCR?

"So?" Dean spread his hands with a puzzled look and glanced at Ritter, waiting for her to speak.

"This is the situation, Dean. NCR would like to talk to you about licensing issues with DCAP..." Ritter began, but her eyes were fixed intently on Wedner.

"OK, I’ll go outside for a smoke," volunteered Wedner very perceptively.

"Please do~" Ritter was pleased with his initiative and after the office door closed again, she continued the previously paused topic. "Dean, the functionality of the DCAP has been proven viable. Over the past couple of months, it has greatly contributed to the efficiency of case processing at the Youngstown courts. So, two weeks ago, I officially recommended this system to the state court office."

In the past, Youngstown could, at most, handle over 800 cases a month, including evictions, traffic violations, and civil compensations, but with DCAP, that number increased by 30%. Best of all, despite the increased workload, judges like Ritter found their work to be much easier than before.

The convenience of DCAP in retrieving case information anytime, anywhere, and the ability to complete office memos with just a few mouse clicks saved Ritter and her peers a lot of time. Now Ritter didn’t even need to note down tomorrow’s work in her workbook; she had given up pen and paper as the system did it for her.

The notable improvement in work efficiency naturally earned praise from the state court office, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Ritter formally recommended DCAP at the state meeting. She needed this political merit; becoming an appellate court judge was her next political target.

And with her strong endorsement, DCAP naturally caught the attention of more people. For instance, NCR, whose business was not just cash registers.

"Dean, I am the technical executive of the Computer Research Company (CRC) in the Ohio branch. I think, as colleagues to some extent, we will have more to discuss." This time, William took over from Judge Ritter, extending his business card to Dean with all seriousness.

"CRC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCR. When William heard you were back in Youngstown, he had me drive him here from Dayton. He wants to talk to you personally about the DCAP system, or rather, about its transfer and possible acquisition," Charles used the term "acquisition," not "licensure" as Judge Ritter had mentioned.

"So, we’re talking business, aren’t we?" It was only then that Dean finally understood why Ritter had called him.

Hearing Dean’s words, Ritter felt slightly uncomfortable. But she quickly recovered, "Dean, as you know, you are still a student. Moreover, if DCAP is to be promoted throughout Ohio, it wouldn’t be possible without external support. Neither you nor I can manage that on our own."

Ritter spoke frankly; she knew it was unfair to Dean, but business was business—whether in commerce or politics.

"OK, then let’s talk," said Dean.

"What?" Ritter had braced herself for a complaint from Dean, not expecting such a response.

She had imagined Dean shouting or storming out angrily, but his calm statement was completely off her radar.

"Of course, it’s business. Judges, businesspeople, students—all sitting in an office—it wouldn’t just be for a cup of coffee, right?" Dean sipped the Youngstown courthouse coffee, yes, it was the same old flavor.

"Good, let me introduce myself again, I am Ritter Charles, Chief Strategy Officer of NCR," Charles said, removing a business card from his gold-embossed holder for the first time.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Charles," Dean accepted placidly, not in the least perturbed by only now receiving a business card.

"So, may I take it that you’re willing to sell the DCAP system, Dean?" Charles asked with a professional smile.

"Certainly, as long as the price is right," Dean had already decided what to do after hearing the name NCR, particularly within Ritter’s office.

A market giant coupled with a politically-influenced judge. Come on, Dean didn’t have the power of three heads and six arms; he couldn’t handle the alliance of the two.

Of course, DCAP could be sold, but how? And for what price? Those were the questions worth exploring.

Seeing Dean’s straightforwardness, Judge Ritter breathed a sigh of relief. Charles and William also relaxed into smiles; when it came to business, they were the professionals.

"All right, since there is no dissent, let’s get to the point and wrap up this deal as soon as possible," said Charles, taking out his checkbook right there and then to make an offer.