MapleSAP Special: Hackers
Part 2: Hackers’ Home

The English name for Hackiimen (hack-ee-moon) Dasha is Hackers’ Building, or their home. The apartment building is 34 floors high and stretches into the sky like all the surrounding buildings. The whole place has 306 apartment units, each housing 4-10 hackers. Buildings like this house at least 2000 people, and there are about 17 major hackimun dasha and 36 other housing facilities throughout Yazhou County. Between Yazhou and Kerning, there are about 56 housing buildings.

Tonight, we found the Toa-Payoh hacker’s home. This building is about 40 floors high, and sits on shore of the river.
We fall in line with a group of hackii-mun (Chinese term for hackers) as they approached the entrance of the building.
I looked around the group. Most of them were coming home from school or work. While a few had dark spots or scars on their faces, necks, or hands, I wouldn’t have guessed the others would be hackers. Malon points out some non-Azn people walking; a young girl, about age 15, a man, 25, and some other kids.

When we entered, I spoke with the owner of the building; a county realty salesman. He bought the land 35 years ago and had the building constructed. as the hacker population increased, he evicted all of his residents and converted the place into a safe house. To our surprise, he faced no trouble from the county nor the city as he used his building to harbor the country’s outlaws. Time and time again, he and his lawyer kept the GMs away via action in court. It was
Mr. Rei who first proposed the idea of making Kerning City a safe zone for hackers.

Mr. Rei was more than happy to talk with us. Because his english is minimum, Cletus had to translate for him.
[“This is not just a shelter, it is a home. Hackiimun live here. They all residents. Even though there is now public awareness about hackers, and there are campaigns to break down the anti-sentiment against them, many people feel tense and unrestful around them. They always evicted from own home by landlord or roomate who just want legit pureblood,”]
“And so you took them in?” I asked. Cletus translated my question into mandarin for him.
[“Ah, yes. They have nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Because of public hostility in the city, most of them can’ find job, and they hardly make enough money selling handcrafted items here. Normal rent alone exceeds monthly income.”]
“So, what’s the rent system here?”
Mr. Rei adjusted his glasses. [“my family is wealthy. they own big business in SEA Lands. We use our profit from our business here to run this dasha. The tenants pay 35% rent. If you paid 500K a month in a regular place for one room, here you pay only 150K. I would reduce it further, but i have to cover the costs like electricity, TV, phone, that sort of thing,”]
I paused, then Malon asked, “I noticed some of the people who came in are Victorians, they’re not Azn, how did they become hackers-“
[“They are hackii, yes. White man should not be surprised, Yazhoumen (ya-jhow-mun) come from everywhere.”]
“How did they become hackers?” I asked.
[“Many of my tenants are victims, either of attack or error. While most people here were born hacker, others became hackers, but not by choice. That girl you saw, she was raped by group of hackers two years ago. None of them used condom, and they spread their hackium to her. She was arrested by police after and instead of executing her, they dropped her off in 7ung Hwang and she come here. She not talk to family since.”]
“Ohhh. Im sorry,” Malon said, putting a hand over her mouth.
“[Come, I show you some people,”] Mr. Rei said as he got up. We went up 10 floors in the elevator. On the way up, he explains to us of how everyone living here is responsible for their share of cleaning and maintenance.
[“Here we are,”] he said as we got off.
The lights are dim in the hallways, and the walls are covered in posters, pictures, tapestries, and other things. The floor is hardwood. Unlike any other apartment building I’ve seen, the doors to the units are open and people are coming and going. The tenants, people young and old are trading with eachother and with Permanoobs and visitors while the children are roaming around and playing with eachother. The hackers have adopted the friendly social order the Permanoobs use to keep their communities intact. It’s all friendly and peaceful.
Mr. Rei and one of his bodyguards take us to door 1008 and knock. [“I want to show you a girl who’s story touched most of us here. She is a victim by error. She not hurt, or injected. She turned into a hackii because she was healed.”]

The door opens and a middle aged Chinese woman answers. “Ni hao?”
“Wan shang. Qing wen, wo you xiao zu MapleSAP Zahzi. Womun yao [talk with your] haizi Alysha?” Mr. Rei asked the woman.
“Hao de?…”
Mr. Rei and the woman talked in Mandarin for a bit longer:
[” Why do these white goons want to talk with Alysha?! She just got home from school and beat by other children for being a hackii! She don’t wan to talk to anyone, and she go homework!”]
[“But these guys are from MapleSAP, and I wanted them to hear her story.”]
[“The media lies! They just want to copy those shmucks from KLON! They lie! You get out!”] she said, jabbing her finger at us. some kids and some other people passed us to enter and leave the unit.
[“We aren’t affiliated with KLON, ma’am”] Cletus said.
“Ni hui shuo Zhongwen?!” she asked Cletus.
“Shi de. Wo hui shuo Zhongwen.”
The argument went on for a bit, then the women called the girl.

“Alysha!!! Come here lah! Why you so popular? Who these people?”
We entered and saw Alysha, a blond haired skinny teen lying on the couch watching hockey on TV. It was the Swampers vs. the Thundercocks.
She was wearing loose jeans and a hoody. I noticed at once two large black spots on her throat where the cateroid arteries would be. She caught us looking at her, snatched the scarf on the coffee table and wrapped it around her neck. “Go away!” she snapped, turning back to the TV.
The woman hammered more questions at her.
“Wo bu dong!!!” the girl shouted at us. “Go away!”
“Hey! Ni be nice lah! You not be in trouble if you dun make trouble at school!” another woman snapped at her in Singlish.
“O.m.f.g!” the girl hissed in frustration as she threw the remote at the wall. “What do you want?!” she demanded.
We were surprised.
“We’re reporters from MapleSAP Magazine; its an independent magazine, and we’re on assignment to talk with hackers-“
She simply gave us the middle finger. “You see my point. Now get out, and go away!”
The woman came and sat next to her on the couch. They talked in Mandarin for a minute.
[” But they just want to lie like everyone else! All they do is tell everyone we are all evil, diseased douche bags!”]
[“Hey! Do not say that word in here! You don’t wan to talk to all of them?”]
“Bu shi!”
[“What about just one of them! Mr. Rei work very hard to keep you here, and you should show appreciate by talking with these people! What about just one?”]
[“Really?”] the girl asked.
“Shi de. Yi. [Who you wan talk to?”]
“That lady over there and her only!” the girl said, pointing to Malon.
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gotta cut this short and go strangle my little sister for making me lose track and pissing me off.