“Yes, I know. To me, these two facts make any cryptographic protection powerless against the special services. Since the means of intercepting information are originally embedded into the devices themselves, how are we going to build protection against leaks and wiretaps? The creation of existing computers and smartphones took half a century of efforts of several giant international corporations. Victor’s small firm cannot develop and produce fundamentally new devices, and even operating systems for them in a short time.
“We will not produce everything new, we will exploit and outsmart the existing one.”
Before Daniel could finish, Victor suddenly appeared on the deck with a rifle. Antony and Daniel exchanged a puzzled looks. Victor raised his rifle and took aim. A large albatross was gliding across the sky.
“Please don’t!” Daniel pleaded.
“Killing an albatross brings bad luck!” Antony supported.
Not listening to them, Victor fired. He missed and began reloading. The bird turned right to yacht and flew straight at them, lowering its altitude. Victor raised his rifle again, but before he could aim and fire, the bird's beak lit up with a series of flashes and the sound of machine gun fire resounded. The half-finished brandy bottle shattered, several bullets tore through the deck, and Victor fell. The drone flew a few meters above the yacht. The friends rushed to help their friend, but he firmly stopped them:
“Spread out! Den, run to the control room and turn the boat around to neutral waters! Antony, take my rifle, hide in the cockpit and shoot from there! I’ll go down to the bilge without help. I’ve got a spare first aid kit and a second gun in there!
Having thrown his rifle towards Antony, Victor crawled vigorously to the hatch to the bilge, about three meters away. His left foot dragged across the deck, leaving a scarlet streak along his way. Antony and Daniel followed the captain’s commands. The drone was turning around for another attack… Two rifles protruded out from the yacht to him… Live people against the machine. The right to privacy of personal communication against total control.