2nd Repair ~ [Dictated/Action]

[inharperwetrust]

So, I was looking around, and lo and behold, I found a wireless computer network. Surprised me, to say the least, what with the whole historical thing this place has goin'.

I'm gonna go in and get some hands-on experience, see what this baby can do. You never know, I might be able to sprinkle some of that Harper magic and even improve it. Wouldn't that be nice?

Now all I gotta do is get one of the flexis compatible with this thing and we'll be set.

---



[It hadn't taken Harper long to get his hands on a CastleNet terminal, but it took a little longer to engineer a port that allowed him to wire the dataport on his neck into the computer. But from there, it was smooth sailing.

Any AIs on the network may notice a newbie wandering through the masses of data, looking around.]

Pretty sweet little setup we have going here...

---

((OOC: The action is for anyone who can exist on the network. Feel free to bump into him. :3))

Comments

[alaspooryork]

[There's what appears to be a very large firewall around Ira Tower. Investigate?]

[inharperwetrust]

Well, well. What have we here...

[Harper hasn't met a firewall he hasn't broken into yet. Even the Andromeda's Vedran Firewall was no match...

...Granted, he got smacked down by the AI, but that's not the point.

He's just going to mosey on over and have a quick check, see what's what.]

[alaspooryork]

[It's secure by twenty-sixth century standards, but not particularly high-level given that. Delta doesn't keep any important information on the network, but he does want to be careful about anyone setting any bugs or other spying devices in the area. Privacy is important to York, after all.

If a crack in the wall can be found, the other side seems much faster and more well-maintained than the rest of the network. There are advantages to having not only an AI and an infiltration specialist, but also an ENCOM board member all in the same location.]

[inharperwetrust]

[It's different. Very different. Like nothing Harper's seen before, but there's some... familiarities. They're very small, though, nothing worth mentioning much.

Harper isn't really looking to hack in, but he is testing the defences, reaching out to touch the wall...

...And get a shock back.]

Ow. Jeez. At least it works.

[alaspooryork]

[Odd. Usually nothing bothers to poke at his firewalls. Delta's not doing anything particularly taxing, though, so he sends down a small subroutine to see what it is.

...Huh. Another AI, perhaps?

He'll manifest in his usual form, but at a regular human size while in the digital realm.]

Hello! I see you have activated Ira Tower Firewall. Please do not attempt to dismantle it.

[inharperwetrust]

[Which is good. Harper's sick of the whole intimidation thing AIs tend to do where they appear huge.]

Y'know, you might want to change your intro line, there.

[He's assuming this is a security AI.]

Because saying stuff like that instantly wants to make me try and hack it.

[alaspooryork]

[It's just not his style. Now if it was Omega, say, things might be different. Still, Delta doesn't seem particularly threatened by this hacker. They all have the same attitude.]

You will not find any secure information on the other side. As the journals have been proven to be unhackable, they are currently used for offline storage of all sensitive information.

However, you are welcome to try. We will be pleased to develop additional defenses based upon those methods you use.

[inharperwetrust]

Oh, now that sounds like a challenge.

[One Harper is more than willing to accept.]

And as for additional defences, after this little lesson in Hacking 101, I'd be happy to help.

Now step aside and let the Harper magic flow.

[This can't be any more difficult than hacking Nietszchean networks, or reprogramming an orbital space-station's gravity, right?]

[alaspooryork]

As you wish.

[And he does literally step aside. Figurative speech, Delta is not great at it.

The security is decent but nothing too special, except one linchpin but of code that Delta borrowed from the TARDIS's files. That one is a completely different style and considerably more advanced.]

[inharperwetrust]

[And it's that bit of code that Harper hones in on, examining it and frowning, bringing it up.]

Interesting... Very interesting...

[alaspooryork]

[And that's why he put it in. An artist might want a more homogeneous and "pretty"-looking code, but York found it more practical to mix and match, throwing any potential attackers off the scent.

Delta continues to watch with a passive curiosity.]

[inharperwetrust]

[And TARDIS basecode being TARDIS basecode means that you can't really do anything with it unless you know what you're doing with it.

...Which few people do. Harper's at a loss with trying to get through it, so starts going for a bypass with the coding he does know how to manipulate.]

[alaspooryork]

[Really, Delta's lucky she was nice enough to talk to a little AI like himself.

The linchpin is bypassable, but the only other way is extremely subtle and difficult to find.]

dictated

[cheerupemoborg]

Just discovered CastleNet, I see.

'Flexis'?

dictated

[inharperwetrust]

Yeah. They're polymer computers, touch-screen, lightweight, even foldable if you really want.

[cheerupemoborg]

It's not a brand I've heard of. Different worlds, and all that.

Did you make it yourself?

[inharperwetrust]

You probably won't have, then.

And, no. Flexis have been around since way before I was born. I'm pretty sure they're a Vedran design.

[cheerupemoborg]

Vedran... that the parent company?

[inharperwetrust]

Try species. The Vedrans are the most technologically advanced race in three galaxies. They were spanning the universe when we were still using fossil fuels.

[cheerupemoborg]

Extraterrestrials, then. I take it humanity is familiar with them where you come from?

[inharperwetrust]

You bet we are. Can't go nearly three centuries in the System's Commonwealth, then three centuries fighting to survive during the Fall without being familiar.

[cheerupemoborg]

This Fall is some form of disaster, I assume.

[inharperwetrust]

The Fall of the Systems Commonwealth. Caused a vacuum of power that lasted 300 years. History calls it the Long Night.

[cheerupemoborg]

Interesting. Sounds like Rome...

[inharperwetrust]

Well, the difference between Rome and the Commonwealth is that Rome didn't have it's own guardian angel.