One day, the Temple awoke to discover that its databases
had been hacked. The intrusion was traced to a web
application that had recently been updated by a certain
monk. The monk was fetched by two Temple guards to explain
himself to the Abbess.
As the guards marched the miserable monk up the tower
stairs, they passed old master Banzen on the landing. Taking
pity on the boy, the master whispered into the monk’s ear:
“If you speak in your own defense, the Abbess will think you
a coward and cut off your head. But if you do not speak in
your own defense, she will think you were responsible for
the incident, and cut off your head.”
With those words, Banzen departed down the stairs.
The monk was called into the office of the Abbess, who
unsheathed a sword and demanded: “Explain how you brought
disgrace to our Temple.”
The monk began to profess his innocence, but remembering the
advice of master Banzen, he quickly shut his mouth lest the
Abbess behead him for cowardice. Yet the silence that
followed only made the Abbess resolute in her anger. She
raised her sword and approached the terrified boy,
determined to behead him for his undisputed incompetence.
In desperation the monk’s eyes searched the room for another
exit, but they found only a screen of rice paper and bamboo,
beyond which lay a narrow balcony and a hundred-foot plummet
to the rocks below. As the whistling blade fell toward his
neck, the monk was enlightened.
The monk dove under the Abbess’ blade, rolled across the
room, and stood before the rice paper screen. Taking a red
marker from his robe, he hastily drew a stick figure in one
panel. The Abbess paused, intrigued.
In the next panel, and in the ones following, the monk drew
shaky cartoons depicting the events that had occurred over
the past few weeks, and how his clan had reacted to each.
When taken individually, no step was in error. Yet when
taken collectively, it was clear that a confluence of
unrelated actions had resulted in the critical
vulnerability.
The Abbess sheathed her sword, and with a wave of her hand
dismissed the monk.
But when the monk reached her doorway, the Abbess gave him a
swift kick in the behind, sending him tumbling down the long
tower stairs.
“That,” said the Abbess, “is for writing on my walls.”
Editor’s note
This case was written specifically for my recent talk
“Hacking the mind: How Art can help us to talk (and teach)
technology“. I had a great time presenting the talk at ABB
DevDay 2014 in Krakow, Poland.
The case is an homage to Kyogen’s “Man-Up-a-Tree”, which is
Case 5 of “The Gateless Gate”.
I promise to return to the much geekier stuff next week. :-)
