Spy School

By the time Ben and Erica make it to the principal’s office, it’s 3 o’clock in the morning. They had to jack 63 cameras by plugging into the backs of each and freezing the image so that the rooms and hallways looked empty. When they make it to the office’s keypad, Erica already knows the code: 12345678. She says the principal is not good at remembering codes and passwords. She explains that the CIA mainframe’s “sixteen-bit daisy-chain encryption” means that it is “a sixteen-character entry code that is randomly selected by the CIA mainframe every day” and that it is sent to everyone to memorize daily (164). The principal is not capable of this, so Erica knows he must write the passwords down somewhere.

She had Ben provoke the principal to send the probation email while he was in the office, so that he could see what the principal did to get the passcode. At first, Ben can’t remember what the principal did before logging in, but Erica motivates him by saying she will give him a hug if he remembers. He immediately remembers that the principal checked the dictionary first. Erica goes to the computer. Ben says he thought she was going to hug him, and she says she will, but that she hadn’t said when she would give the hug.