diff --git a/stream-ciphers/client.c b/stream-ciphers/client.c
index 43ba524..17d9e8e 100644
--- a/stream-ciphers/client.c
+++ b/stream-ciphers/client.c
@@ -1,10 +1,42 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include <sys/random.h>
 
 #include "epic_drm.h"
 
-#define log(what) printf("[epic_drm] " what "\n")
-#define logf(what, ...) printf("[epic_drm] " what "\n", __VA_ARGS__)
+#define log(what) printf("[client] " what "\n")
+#define logf(what, ...) printf("[client] " what "\n", __VA_ARGS__)
+
+// this code is untrusted
+// but don't worry, Epic DRM(tm) protections are unbreakable
+
+void* get_cmd(struct command_channel* chan) {
+    // get the protected shell command from the DRM server
+    void* dst = malloc(sizeof(chan->data));
+
+    log("sending get_cmd");
+    chan->command = GET_CMD;
+    sem_post(&chan->sem_c2s);
+    sem_wait(&chan->sem_s2c);
+    logf("result: %s", chan->command == SUCCESS ? "success" : "error");
+    if (chan->command == SUCCESS) {
+        memcpy(dst, &chan->data, sizeof(chan->data));
+        return dst;
+    } else {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+}
+
+void send_cmd(struct command_channel* chan, void* data) {
+    // send a protected shell command back to the server
+    log("sending execute_cmd");
+    memcpy(&chan->data, data, sizeof(chan->data));
+
+    chan->command = EXECUTE_CMD;
+    sem_post(&chan->sem_c2s);
+    sem_wait(&chan->sem_s2c);
+    logf("result: %s", chan->command == SUCCESS ? "success" : "error");
+}
 
 int main() {
     // perform a basic interaction with epic_drm
@@ -12,15 +44,11 @@ int main() {
     int shm = shm_open(SHM_NAME, O_RDWR, 0);
     struct command_channel* chan = mmap(NULL, SHM_SIZE, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, shm, 0);
 
-    log("sending get_cmd");
-    chan->command = GET_CMD;
-    sem_post(&chan->sem_c2s);
-    sem_wait(&chan->sem_s2c);
-    logf("result: %s", chan->command == SUCCESS ? "success" : "error");
-
+    // get protected shell command
+    void* data = get_cmd(chan);
     log("data");
     for (size_t i = 0; i < 64; i++) {
-        uint8_t b = ((uint8_t*) &chan->data)[i];
+        uint8_t b = ((uint8_t*)data)[i];
         printf("%02x ", b);
         if (i % 16 == 15) {
             printf("\n");
@@ -28,11 +56,8 @@ int main() {
     }
     printf("...\n");
 
-    log("sending execute_cmd");
-    chan->command = EXECUTE_CMD;
-    sem_post(&chan->sem_c2s);
-    sem_wait(&chan->sem_s2c);
-    logf("result: %s", chan->command == SUCCESS ? "success" : "error");
+    // send back
+    send_cmd(chan, data);
 
     log("done");
 }