"Codename: Ms. Een"
[Disclaimer: Everything depicted in this story is fictional and solely the product of the artist/author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or people is purely coincidental.]
Ms. Een was born and grew up in Pretoria, the executive capital of South Africa.
(FYI, South Africa has two more capitals: Cape Town, the legislative capital and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.)
Her father retired from the South African Defence Force (SADF) - Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag.
His last unit operated out of Pretoria.
Upon retirement, he and his very pregnant wife decided to stay put in Pretoria and settle down there.
Three months later, Ms. Een was born.
Ms. Een's early life was dominated by her eclectic array of hobbies and interests.
A short list of her busy childhood includes becoming a national junior tennis champion, a top-ranked Speed Chess competitor, the youngest person to win the annual hackathon at South Africa's national coding camp for gifted children; while also being the only person to do so for three years in a row.
At the age of 14, she was accepted by the University of Pretoria and was one of only two students enrolled in their "Full Double Major" Baccalaureate Program.
In less than three years, she graduated Summa Cum Laude; earning Bachelor of Science degrees in both Engineering and Computer Science.
Sadly, while Ms. Een was studying at the University, her father died of Cancer.
The Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma was first diagnosed during his final physical exam before retiring from military service.
After nearly 15 years of battle, the Cancer finally got the best of him.
The death of a parent is always traumatic; but moreso for Ms. Een because of her very close relationship with her father.
Influenced by the memory of her late father, she made her next significant life decision: The South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
Shortly after the fall of apartheid in 1994, the South African military draft was abandoned and a standing professional military was adopted.
The day after her graduation, Ms. Een joined the SANDF and served for three years as an Intel officer.
Then she was recruited by the Domestic Branch of the State Security Agency (SSA), formerly known as the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The SSA is responsible for handling all things pertaining to South Africa's domestic counter-intelligence activities.
One day, Ms. Een received this personal email:
From: Raymond Kohl, Founder and CEO, Kohl Technologies, Inc.
Subject: Thank You note + more
I wanted to personally express my gratitude for your continued efforts at notifying Kohl Technologies of any previously unknown vulnerabilities in our legacy software.
And the additional code you provided for preventing the exploit was generous, indeed.
We took the liberty of publicly acknowledging your expertise and contributions toward implementing our most recent software security patch.
Similar to your three previous bug bounties, your reward - plus an additional 20% for the original algorithms, has already been transfered into your multiple token, cryptocurrency wallet.
I'm hoping this will be the last time I have to do this and that you seriously consider my offer of employment at Kohl Technologies, Inc.
It would be a win/win.
My Personal Security Detail* needs an experienced comms and logistics Lead.
Unless you truly enjoy the SSA's bureaucracy, politics and civil servant salary, accept my job offer and see what I think your talents and experience are really worth.
You'll be working with other like-minded, highly intelligent and proactive people.
It is urgent that you reply asap.
Please Note: This offer expires in 24 hours.
May you and yours be well and loving life today.
In Lak'ech, Raymond
[End of email.]
Five minutes after reading Mr. Kohl's email, Ms. Een replied with:
Sir, I accept your offer.
Please Note: 2 1/2 hours after sending this email, I'll be on a flight to your corporate headquarters in the United States...
*The Security Detail - known as "The Pool" to its members and insiders, is an elite group of highly trained and fiercely loyal bodyguards, combat survival instructors and covert operatives - all under the guise of being an ordinary Executive Secretary.
[Submitted for your entertainment. Enjoy the Original Art.]
In Lak'ech, JaiChai
The "Codename: Ms. Een" NFT on OpenSea:
https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/63477199864332346876047430691250883279803745216811129316337883366474093953025/
[See more of my NFT collections on OpenSea: THE SECURITY DETAIL, Empyrean Beauty II; Dark Wing Valkyries; La Silhouette Se Souvient; Filipina Allure; Empyrean Beauty; Viking Women Warriors; Proud, Strong and Beautiful; Exotic Allure; Assassin's Exotique; Orbiting Outliers; Quae Volant and Ancient Alien Digs
