"It's what?"
"Come and look."
I did. On the screen was a mass of numeric garbage. What was this all about?
"Matt, when this disk was written, whatever went on it was scrambled using some key, probably the DES system, the 'data-encryption standard.' It keeps unauthorized intruders like us from snooping."
"How does anybody read it?"
"A decrypting key must be in the hardware down on eleven. But we can't get through to that level of the machine without an 'access code.' Which we don't have."
"Very smart. The electronic keys to the kingdom." I watched, wondering all the while what Yamada was doing out there. Should I blunder out and chat him up with my Berlitz Japanese, just to keep him occupied? The clock above the door was ticking away.
"Tam, why not just try activating the key using your own password as the access code? Maybe it'll get you into that level on the mainframe."
She gave it a go, without much enthusiasm. Predictably the message came back, 'ACCESS CODE NOT RECOGNIZED.'
"Well, try some others." I was grasping. "Hit it with 'NODA' or 'MORI.'"