A man in his early twenties with curly red hair, wearing khaki pants and a button-down shirt, walked into the room. He saw Kyle and stopped. “Okay…not exactly what I’d been expecting.”

Kyle walked over and introduced himself. “Kyle Rhodes.”

“Gil Newport.”

Kyle gestured to the table by the window. “Please, have a seat.” He figured they could skip the preliminaries. “I assume you know who I am?”

Gil glanced around the room—what he was looking for was anyone’s guess. “You may assume that, yes,” he said cautiously.

“I asked Professor Sharma to put me in contact with you because I’m putting together a team of specialists for a business venture.”

“What kind of business venture?” Gil asked suspiciously.

“Security consulting.”

“Of course.” Gil did air quotes. “Consulting. Got it.”

“No air quotes. Actual, real consulting.” Kyle couldn’t tell whether Gil seemed more or less interested upon hearing this. “Professor Sharma says that you’ll finish your master’s degree this semester and that your thesis focused on intrusion detection and verification of secure systems and protocols.”

Gil raised an eyebrow, looking almost comically sly. “You seem to know a lot about me, Mr. Rhodes.”

Kyle tried to fight back a smile. “I hate to disappoint you, Gil, but this is one hundred percent legit. I’m starting a network security consulting business, and I have a position available for someone with your skills. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to tell you more.”

Gil paused. “You really are serious.” He looked Kyle over. “No offense, but you’re kind of a wild card. And I’m already entertaining six job offers—six very lucrative job offers.”

Kyle dismissed this with a wave. “If I decide you’re qualified, I can pay you more.” He’d known going in to this venture that he might have to pay top dollar for quality talent given his checkered past.

“You don’t even know what salaries the other companies offered me,” Gil said.

“I still know I can pay more,” Kyle said. “If you’re worth it.”

Gil looked almost offended by that. “Oh, I’m worth it.”

Kyle held his gaze, throwing down the gauntlet. “So show me.”

AN HOUR LATER, Kyle was waiting on the second of Sharma’s suggested candidates—a twenty-one-year-old graduating senior named Troy Leopold, whom Sharma had described as “brilliant, with an inquisitive mind.”

Right on time, a guy in his early twenties with spiky jet-black hair and wearing leather studded bracelets, ripped jeans, and black eyeliner walked in. He didn’t seem fazed in the slightest when he walked over and introduced himself to Kyle. “Troy Leopold. Excuse my casual appearance—if I’d known I was going to have an interview today, I would have worn my polo shirt and khakis.”

Kyle grinned, immediately liking him. “I’ll try to overlook it.”

They took a seat at the table, and Troy dove right in. “I think I should be straight with you. Whatever this interview is, it’s very cool that Professor Sharma suggested my name. But…” He paused, as if worried he might say something offensive.

Kyle chuckled. “Trust me, Troy, whatever it is, I’ve heard it all before.”

Troy gestured to Kyle’s tailored pants and shirt—standard business-casual attire. “I don’t exactly see myself in the corporate world. You know, working for the man.”

Kyle blinked. Nine years ago, he’d been in Troy’s position—except instead of leather studded bracelets and guyliner, he’d worn flannel shirts and construction boots. Now he was the man.

“Wow. I’m suddenly having one of those moments when I realize that I’ve turned into my father.” Kyle clapped his hands together, moving on. “How about this—before you make any decisions, maybe you’d at least like to know what you’d be doing for Rhodes Network Consulting. If I were to hire you.”

Troy nodded politely, clearly humoring him. “Fine. Hypothetically speaking, what would I be doing for Rhodes Network Consulting?”

“Well, other members of the team, including myself, will be creating secure operating systems for our clients. Obviously, the only way to confirm that those systems are airtight is to have another member of the team test them for vulnerabilities.”

Troy’s expression reflected his surprise. “You want to hire a hacker?”

“I was thinking we’d call the position ‘security analyst,’ but in essence, yes—you would be a professional hacker.”

Seeing the gleam of interest in Troy’s eyes, Kyle continued on. “Professor Sharma says you’re brilliant and ambitious.” He leaned forward in his chair, speaking earnestly. “Nine years ago, I was given the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry. It wasn’t the path I’d seen myself taking at the time, but one I have no regrets about following. Today I’m here, giving you the same chance. Maybe it’s not for you—but speaking from personal experience, you won’t know that until you try.”

Troy spoke cautiously, thinking this through. “And what if it turns out not to be for me?”

Kyle shrugged. “Give me a six-month commitment. If it’s not working out, you can walk away after that. No hard feelings. We both know I can find plenty computer geeks out there who would be thrilled to have this job.” He went in for the kill, knowing exactly the last button to push. “After all, those are my systems you’d be trying to hack into. A chance to beat the Twitter Terrorist at his own game.”