Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen | Eggo’s | English Summary | Onderwereld

 

Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen

Eggo’s

Greg is surprised and relieved to see Eckhardt’s reflection staring at him in the glass. Greg puts his hand on Eckhardt to confirm his existence, but he simply pushes him away. Eckhardt looks different with blonde hair and a goatee. He tells Greg that he saw his face on Police File, further commenting that he never expected to see himself there. Greg asks him various questions about his whereabouts over the past week, but Eckhardt coldly dismisses him in the same voice he uses whenever he performs social engineering. Eckhardt tells Greg that this is their final hacking lesson, further exposing that the keylogger found on Greg’s laptop was installed by none other than Eckhardt himself. He asks Greg to consider why everything that he had ever learned from Eckhardt proved to be so effective, exposing his orchestration of the entire ordeal through clenched teeth. At this point, Eckhardt hides none of the contempt he has for Greg, asking him how it feels to be a victim of the biggest social engineering attack he has ever experienced.

Eckhardt reveals putting himself on the Lawson College database, falsifying his records as a matric student, and hence bypassing the school having to meet his parents as would usually be the case. After completing his objectives, Eckhardt wiped his records, leaving nothing but the fake name he used to gain entrance to the school in the first place. The family photo Eckhardt had in his room was a stock image he got off the internet and in each phone conversation with his parents, he was speaking to other people. He explains swapping laptops, leaving the empty decoy that was found in his room to keep the police busy. He escaped via the drainage pipes used in Lawson’s initiation ritual to escape, knowing that his motorcycle was close by. He found a hiding place close to the school where he could keep his laptop plugged in, receiving daily emails of Greg’s activities courtesy of the keylogger he installed.

Greg’s anger begins to boil, and he pushes Eckhardt away with balled fists; however, the latter is not finished explaining. He tells Greg that he knew all about Doc Pienaar and his accomplices because he had been watching them for a long time, but he also reveals knowing everything about Greg before Greg opening up to him about it. Eckhardt spent the most time gathering information about Greg, saying that he knew that Greg was someone who enjoyed life on the edge. Someone whose curiosity could be used to teach him how to hack and eventually come to know the plans of Doc Pienaar. However, he adds that the entire exercise was to show Greg the meaning of fear, the same feeling Eckhardt felt when he walked in on his father contemplating suicide.

Eckhardt unmasks the last two individuals in Doc Pienaar’s circle. Doc is “The Butcher”, “The Baker” is a virologist and the “Candlestick Maker” is none other than Greg’s father. He explains that unmasking The Butcher put Greg’s father in the same trouble as Doc Pienaar. At this point, the rage is too much Greg to keep down and suddenly he finds Eckhardt on the ground and his fist covered in blood. Eckhardt kicks Greg off him before launching his assault, punching Greg’s chest and head. Part of Greg wishes that Eckhardt could just kill him there as a punishment for putting his father in harm’s way. He wonders what rage hides in Eckhardt’s soul for him to be so strong.

Greg refuses to give up, grabbing Eckhardt by the shirt and pinning him to the ground. A passer-by calmly lifts Greg off Eckhardt, saying “let’s go” and Greg recognises the individual: Tom, the caretaker of the school grounds.

Greg realises that the two were working together the whole time, given the fact that Tom was also new to Lawson College. As he is being dragged away, Eckhardt tells Greg to ask his father about what he did to Eckhardt’s father, the judge, as well as to ask him where John got the pills that killed him.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment