A few days later, Merrin Residence
"Several online forums were permanently shut down this week, with the FBI citing connections to the recent WikiLeaks disclosures," the news anchor reported, her tone steady but tense.
Lucian, sitting on his chair, was eating cereal.
Lucian: Hmm… God, how do I even start coding?
Just like Onetwo suggested, Lucian wanted to create a stripped-down version of one of the tools in Nox Kit. Looking at the tool list, the only possible one without much knowledge is…
NetSpector: a tool for Wi-Fi Penetration Testing.
The problem is where to start— Lucian spun slowly in his chair, eyes drifting from the cereal bowl to the bootable USB labelled as NullByte OS lying beside his keyboard.
Lucian: Okay, the best way to start is to just do it—
(Flash drive click)
Lucian: I did download one Networking book… So, I guess I will use that.
He opened the terminal, the blinking cursor waiting like a dare.
Lucian: Building a tool like NetSpector… is impossible. But I may be able to watch. Scan. Log. That's a start.
Lucian started skimming through the Networking PDF, jotting sticky notes with every useful detail.
Lucian: Hmm!
---------
Ifconfig: IP addresses (IPv4 and IPv6)·
MAC addresses
---------
Lucian kept writing and pasting the notes on the wall…
Lucian: subnet structure… 192.168.1 → Network part .10 → Host part
He wiped milk from his lip. Reached for a sticky note. Scribbled fast. Another arrow drawn from "Gateway" to "Subnet Mask"
15 minutes later,
The wall was covered with colourful notes like a chaotic diary, and only Lucian could understand them. With a faint smile, He stepped back like an Artist looking at his creation.
Lucian cracked his knuckles, sat back down on his chair, and started typing.
He had the notes, He had the motivation. All that matters is now the start.
Lucian: Let's start with scanning first.
---------------------------------------------
#!/bin/bash
echo "NetSpector v0.1 - Local Network Scan"
echo "-------------------------------------"
ifconfig
echo
echo "Pinging devices on local subnet..."
for ip in $(seq 1 254); do
ping -c 1 192.168.1.$ip | grep "64 bytes" &
done
---------------------------------------------
Lucian: Echo… Scan Complete.
The bash script was made from examples from the books; it was sloppy, but maybe it worked… Lucian's hands were sweaty, whether it was the coding or just pure anxiety. Saving it as Netspectorv0.1.sh, Lucian ran it.
Lucian leaned on his desk, elbows planted, hands tucked beneath his chin.
His eyes were locked on the terminal, still blank.
For a second, it looked like it had crashed.
Nothing. No lines. No pings. No output.
Lucian: Fck. Ohhh!
Just as Lucian was about to give up, suddenly the cursor blinked as multiple lines, one by one, started appearing.
--------------------------------
NetSpector v0.1 - Local Network Scan
-------------------------------------
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1A:92:3F:4C:5D
inet addr:192.168.1.5 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
...
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1B:11:5C:9D:AA
inet addr:192.168.1.5 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
...
Pinging devices on local subnet...
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.23 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.4: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=2.01 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.7: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.89 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.10: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.03 ms
Scan complete.
--------------------------------
Lucian was astounded but there was confusion.
Lucian: Uhm... Which one is which? Don't tell me I have to add something.
Sigh.
I have to add something... FCK!
---
After banging his head on the wall for over two hours finally...
Lucian: It's done. Finally… Meet NetSpector v0.2, btches.
-----------------------------
NetSpector v0.2, Feature added
> Scan IP Range
>Show live devices
>Show Mac Addresses
>Identify Lucian own IP(and skip it)
> Device names
>Logs creation
-----------------------------
Lucian: Fck... Holy sht— okay, so now run!
_____________________________________________
NetSpector v0.2 - Local Network Scan
-------------------------------------
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1A:92:3F:4C:5D
inet addr:192.168.1.5 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
Identifying live devices...
✓ 192.168.1.1 [Router] MAC: 00:1D:7E:AA:22:9F
✓ 192.168.1.4 [Julian] MAC: 00:1F:33:CC:89:12
✓ 192.168.1.7 [Luci$] -- Skipped
✓ 192.168.1.10 [Unknown] MAC: 00:2A:6B:77:44:3C
✓ 192.168.1.11 [JulianA5] MAC: 88:E9:FE:34:11:AC
✓ 192.168.1.14 [SumsangA5] MAC: 1C:62:B8:77:9F:D1
✓ 192.168.1.16 [Luci$56] MAC: 3C:15:C2:44:10:7B
Scan complete. Logged to: netspector.log
____________________________________________
Lucian: (whistles) Done!—Huh?
Tilts his head.
Lucian: Luci$… both are mine…
He pointed at the two phone entries.
Lucian: Mom's phone, Dad's phone, that's Dad's PC—
Pause.
Lucian: Wait… Who the hell is [Unknown]?
Lucian switched to minimising the terminal and going to the web, He searched ...
Click.
Click.
Lucian: Why is my wifi scanner showing device name unknown?
Multiple reasons popped up...
--------
>"Some devices block NetBIOS/DNS queries."
>"It might be a guest device or MAC randomization."
>"Could be a powered-off device with leftover IP reservation."
-------
Lucian stared blankly.
Lucian: The hell... Is Net BIOS, or is it just BIOS?
Searches.
A bit later,
Lucian: This all seems way too complicated just to steal some WiFi... The only one that seems possible is the shutdown.
Even though Lucian was concerned, he shrugged it off.
Lucian: Who cares, it's just WiFi... But my scanner works.
Like a bullet, suddenly a realisation hit.
Lucian: Tsk... If I had a laptop, I could have tested this outside; at home, it doesn't really make any sense.
Lucian frowned. His mind was already ahead—cafés, schools, libraries. Places where unknown devices weren't just creepy—they were opportunities.
Some days later,
Library,
Lucian was sitting on the ground, leaning against the bookshelves, reading a book about Networking.
"Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible by Richard Blum"
Lucian(muttering): Hmm... Secure shell huh! That way, with some apps on my phone, I can remotely run the bash script.
Lucian eagerly reads with a massive grin on his face.
Lucian: The app name is 'SshConnect'.
To be continued~