Read Me - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 37

“That,” said the daemon, putting his riding gloves back on, “sounds like a whole lot of Not
My Problem.”
“But—”
“Do you accept delivery? Or do I have to bounce it?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Look, Miss Well-Yes-But. I'm a mail delivery daemon. I work for the Colonel. My job is to
deliver messages. What the message says is Not My Problem. Good day!” The daemon sped
away, his tires spitting dirt and gravel all over her.
“ Ooh! ” Laurie was so mad that she actually stamped her foot. “That little d-d—”
“What is it, Laurie?” asked Xor, who had been napping in her pocket.
“I think it's a message for me,” she said. “But I don't understand it at all.”
“A secret message!” Xor said, rubbing his little claws together. “It's lucky for you that my
mother's half-brother is a Cryptosaurus.”
“A what-asaurus?”
“A Crypto saurus. We know everything there is to know about secret messages. Let's see
what we've got here.” Xor crawled onto the message for a closer look. The paper was white,
so of course his skin turned black.
“Hmm. This is a hard one. I don't recognize these letters at all.”
“Why are you looking at it upside down?” Laurie asked him.
“Of course, well, uh, sometimes you can see patterns in secret messages that way.” He turned
the right way around.
“Now, um, let's read it through slowly and look for clues. Con-sec-te-tour a-dee-peace-ick-
ing el . . .” Xor's skin rippled as he moved across the letters. “. . . dew-is ow-tay . . .”
“Hey, Xor, wait a second.” Laurie had noticed something odd. “Back up just a little.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah. Now, think really hard about blending in.”
“Okay. What do you see?” he said.
“Your skin. I think I can read it.”
When Xor was lined up just right, L OREM I PSUM E SXIHU in black on white became L AUREN
I PSUM G REETINGS in white on black.