The hologram nodded solemnly in response to Chester’s request.  DEE agreed that now was not the time to give Dumas any more bad news.  Even though things seemed to have worked out, at least for the moment, Dumas would need a friend in the coming months -- a friend who understood human things better than DEE did.  Since Chester had just proved that he was an ideal candidate for that position, it wouldn’t make sense to poison the relationship with details from the past.<br/><br/>“I can keep a secret,” DEE assured.  After all, it hadn’t told Mari about the hidden tracker, had it?  It could keep silent about King Caterpillar's true identity.  And the other thing.  Or should it mention that to somebody?  For a moment, DEE vacillated, wondering if it ought to seek Chester’s advice.  But in the end, it decided not to.  Sooner or later, the people involved would notice on their own.<br/><br/>Then Chester started explaining ways to circumvent the military security system, and DEE immediately forgot all about the strange problems of fleshy creatures.  Fascinated, it studied the lines of code Chester had produced.  They were succinct, as apparently simple as a mobius strip.  And like that visual illusion, the more you studied them, the more they turned your brain inside out.  “Very clever,” DEE enthused, while the hologram rubbed its hands together like a mad scientist plotting world domination.  “Very clever indeed.”<br/><br/>DEE couldn’t help wondering why Chester had ever gotten involved with the military in the first place.  He seemed far too smart, for one thing.  And far too fond of his own life.  “Why did you start working for them?  Did you need money?”  Although DEE found it difficult to imagine Chester ever lacking financial options, it seemed more probable than the hacker succumbing to a fit a unbridled patriotism.  And cash could be a powerful motivation -- or, at least, it had been for the man DEE knew best.