The President is Missing

President Duncan meets with the six individuals who could potentially have been the source of the leak. He announces, “[W]hoever you are, if you step forward and help me stop this virus, I’ll pardon you” (378). If the traitor doesn’t come forward voluntarily, he will ensure that they are fully prosecuted for treason. He gives them 30 minutes to reflect on his offer.

Despondent, the president thinks back to when his plane was shot down while he was serving on a military mission in Iraq. He tried to play dead. This memory gives him an idea: Since the Dark Ages virus operates by attacking and overwriting active files, he wonders if they can trick it.

President Duncan explains his plan: mark every active file as deleted so that when the “virus activates. It doesn’t do anything, because it sees no active file to overwrite” (385). One problem is that no one knows what the virus will do at that point. While many of the cybersecurity experts are skeptical, others suggest that it is worth trying.