Vergundy 2021/02/18(Thu)09:22 No. 988424 ID: 3b69d8
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An old, creaky transport vessel enters the orbit of Proxima C. It’s destination: station 11, the newest of the planet’s exploratory,
long-term research sites.

Vergundy 2021/02/18(Thu)09:22 No. 988425 ID: 3b69d8
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Inside the vessel, a lone deer in engineer garb nervously taps a finger on their knee. Their eyes dart around, taking note of the extremities of the cabin. No cameras, it seems.

The cervine lifts their arm, and a small computer is exposed from beneath their sleeve. After a few button presses, the projector activates, and a holographic document is cast into the air above their wrist. The word “DOSSIER” glows brightly from the top of the page.

DOSSIER

ASSIGNMENT
Copy all files stored on the personal computer located in the quarters of the Station 11 security captain onto a physical drive. After completing the cover job, return to the ring and contact command to coordinate handoff.

COVER
Name: Adrian Sen
Occupation: Software Engineer
Job: Recover corrupted experiment data resulting from a remotely coordinated hack. How well the job is done is irrelevant; it only matters that the station personnel are not suspicious or confused by your presence.

The document contains many more pages of relevant information, including detailed profiles of important station personnel. The deer reviews these while they wait.

Vergundy 2021/02/18(Thu)09:23 No. 988426 ID: 3b69d8
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A few minutes later, the vessel executes a jerky deceleration, and the deer quickly closes the document. A series of muffled metallic collisions emanates from the opposite wall as the vessel docks with its destination, and they get up to stand in front of the large metal door. After a few more clicks, it opens, revealing a stocky foreman holding a small projector much like the one on the deer’s wrist.

“You’re the software guy, right?” The gruff rat asks, polite but not quite friendly. She doesn’t look up from the screen.

Yes. Adrian Sen's the name.

"Adrian Sen, yeah."

Tell her that you wish you weren't. Don't get to hang out often enough.

Be sure to act not-suspiciously. So maybe say "I'm definitely a software guy and there is nothing suspicious going on" to make sure the rat doesn't suspect you of anything suspicious.

"Yes, yes, yep, yep. Can you just point me to the experiment data that's a puddle of cyber-goo? The sooner I can prove magical data resurrection doesn't exist - again - the sooner we all get to go back to our paying jobs."

Say "I am a deer. :)" Then wait to just allowed through.

Yyyyyyyup.

"That's what they call me!"
Proceed to the main hall from the docking bay and see a portion of the crew plus a glimpse of the captain themselves!

>>988424
Wow, why is the planet so GREEN?

I'm not "the software guy," I am the algorithmic encabulator specialist. Who are you, the secretary?

>>988429
This, no need to be standoffish

Vergundy 2021/02/18(Thu)15:55 No. 988452 ID: 3b69d8
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"Yup, that's me! I believe you folks are having data troubles?" The deer asks, deciding upon friendliness as the least-suspicious mode of conversation.

The foreman continues swiping, seemingly not hearing the deer's question. Either that or she ignored it.

Vergundy 2021/02/18(Thu)15:56 No. 988453 ID: 3b69d8
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She finally looks up from her screen. “Name?”

“Um…” The deer thinks for a second to remember. “Adrian Sen.”

“Good to hear,” she exhales with a tone seemingly in between sarcasm and exhaustion. After a few more taps on the screen, she turns off the projector and pockets it. “I’m Christine. I oversee maintenance for the station. We don’t normally need contractors, but there are no data experts onboard.” She extends a hand.

“Adrian” shakes Christine’s hand. Her grip is firm yet.... indifferent.

“I’ll take you to our head of research, Luce. He’s familiar with our database and he can get you set up.” She starts down the hallway, with Adrian following behind.

As Adrian walks behind his guide, he takes stock of the station’s interior. He knows that they are in the docking area, but the lack of signage or open spaces provides no further information. He considers asking Christine a non-suspicious question that could help with the mission.

Ask if there's anything you should know about the database, that's sure to get useful information without being conspicuous

>>988453
She said someone else is familiar with the database so she probably isn't...
Try asking her how the hack happened. Bruteforce? Vulnerability exploit? Social engineering? Inside job?

You can also ask about Luce, and what other employees are around today.

Explain that the speed of your repairs will depend on how easily you can communicate with the people potentially involved with whatever happened to the data. You need to investigate how this happened so you can create protocol to prevent this and get sent back for a botched job, and even more important are the factors that caused the situation in the first place. You have personally encountered problems where you had to slave away on a professional team for three days over a total system fault, then someone finally talks to the junior intern about what they did that day and whoops! They swapped a harmless-looking BIOS launch priority, problem fixed instantly and all the work done by the professional team has to be cleaned up for getting in the way.

Ask for a roster of everyone involved; researchers, planetary scouts, medical (not related, but half the nearby planet is glowing green and you want to memorize the medbay location now), security, and administration. You'll want a full list of the leaders of each of the above, and a basic throwaway map with anything classified crossed out.

>>988453
Ask if there's anything worth seeing and or doing on this station while we're here and if there are any areas we should avoid

Tell her that she doesn't look very enthusiastic about her job. Why is that? Is there something else she'd rather be doing right now?

From her, assuming she's talkative at all, try to segue the conversation towards the ship personnel, then the officers, and later towards the security captain.

ogle ass

Vergundy 2021/02/21(Sun)14:34 No. 988730 ID: 3b69d8
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“So how exactly did this hack happen? Brute force? Vulnerability exploit?” He pauses. “...Inside job?”

Christine scoffs. “Seems like a lot of work just to scramble a bunch of atmospheric data. It was probably just some radical environmentalists from the ring trying to delay the mining operation.”

Adrian recalls the description of Station 11’s official purpose from the dossier: to study the chemical composition of Proxima C in preparation for a large-scale resource extraction. It’s a rather mundane step in a much larger plan, but one that has nonetheless faced hostility from many activists in the Alpha Centauri system.

“But to answer your question, it was a remote vulnerability exploit. Luce was insistent on building the database himself for the research project.” She raises her eyebrows mockingly at this. “The silver lining is that since the research network is decoupled from the rest of the station’s systems, that was the only thing that was affected.”

Adrian perks up. “Wait, it’s totally separate? Like, they aren’t mutually accessible?”

Christine nods. “Separate credentials, anyways.”

Adrian makes a mental note of this. Assuming he's only given access to the research network, hacking into the security captain’s computer is going to be harder than expected. He might have to get physical access to it to copy the data.

As the pair continue walking, they enter a curved hallway with a large window on one side. It looks down into a large room with a view of outer space. A gymnasium, maybe? He can’t see the floor of it from this angle.

Take a peek, see what's down there.

"Hey, what's that?"

>>988742
This this, i am curious too!

"Why isn't there reinforced radiation shielding on these windows? I feel like I'm going to get eye cancer!

Don't say anything, just go and look through the window, fast and quiet while she's not looking.

Get her talking about herself, and sneak a peek while she's distracted. Everyone loves talking about themselves.

>>988730
"Is that the gym? I hope you have good cardio machines."

>>988730
"How confident are you that the networks stay decoupled? That might be the policy, but policies like that have a tendency to get bent when they get in the way of convenience or expedience, and if someone connected to both networks at once their system could become an illicit route."

(In addition to potentially being true, this also plants an idea that might give us cover if we need to do such things ourselves later.)

Vergundy 2021/02/28(Sun)15:13 No. 989491 ID: 3b69d8
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While Christine is looking the other way, Adrian shifts closer to the window to get a clearer look of the room below. On the floor, a group of mustard-clad wolves is doing push-ups in unison. Leading the drill is a similarly clothed, blood red canine that Adrian recognizes immediately...

Vergundy 2021/02/28(Sun)15:13 No. 989492 ID: 3b69d8
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It’s Heron, the security captain.

What's the intel on him?

At least he's easy to pick out of a crowd, what exactly do you know about him?

Quite a coincidence to encounter the guy so quickly. This training regime... I wonder if it's mandatory for all security personnel. Still, this is useful info, because it tells us that there's at least one regular activity during which the captain may not be present at his quarters and thus would allow us to infiltrate them.

Vergundy 2021/03/09(Tue)16:32 No. 990487 ID: 3b69d8
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Adrian pulls up the dossier to refresh his knowledge on the captain. As he's looking down, he detects a certain presence eyeing him annoyedly.

"Whatcha reading?" Christine asks, clearly not in the mood to be held up.

Shit.

(New style! Old style was taking too long and I wanna do more frequent updates, so here it is!)

Smut.


But nah, just the orientation brochure

Vergundy 2021/03/09(Tue)17:27 No. 990492 ID: 3b69d8
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"Um... Just the orientation brochure!" Adrian says, praying that Christine can't read backwards.

Vergundy 2021/03/09(Tue)17:29 No. 990494 ID: 3b69d8
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"What? Actually, whatever, I don't care." She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Just keep up. I have stuff I need to do after I drop you off with Luce."

She turns and continues walking down the hall, keeping an eye on Adrian to make sure he's keeping close.

Remind me, why aren't you wearing AR shades to mask the data by crossing it between your wrist phone and your headgear? Keeping spy secrets where any camera could println with no encryption whatsoever is going to out you in seconds!

Turn your wrist phone off and don't use the dossier until you can set up a jamming signal.

If its not required for ID checking and you don't think there will be urgent need for it, consider just turning off your watch for now and avoid connecting it to a system connected to the network. At a later date, maybe you can review and memorize the contents of the dossier better and consider deleting it, but for now, focus on the cute overworked rat and let her do her job.

>>990503
This seems like a good plan.

Anything she can tell you about Luce?

Yeah, turn off the watch

Turn off the watch and keep following her for now.

Vergundy 2021/03/17(Wed)20:04 No. 991843 ID: 17c6f5
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Sighing in relief, Adrian powers off the watch. He makes a mental note not to review the dossier unless he's totally alone.

Vergundy 2021/03/17(Wed)20:20 No. 991844 ID: 17c6f5
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After another minute of walking in silence, the pair arrives at a large door with a sign saying "Data Center" next to it. Underneath the sign is a small keypad. Christine taps in a code, and the door slides away to reveal a rather dim room populated with large black rectangles and small colored lights.

"Ah! There you are!" A chipper, mature voice emanates from the forest of data banks. As Adrian's eyes adjust to the low light level, he spots a tall, lab coat-wearing fox turning towards them.

...Or rather, him. Christine seems to have left in a hurry.

Adrian can't recall having read about Luce in the dossier, so his knowledge on the scientist (apart from Christine's annoyance) is zero. He'll have to play it by ear.

"So how's the weather been?"

But introduce yourself and ask abit about him

Don't forget to shake his hand, especially in the middle of stating your name. It's always oddly satisfying.

"Bug. Server. Time Me."

Go ahead and introduce yourself to Luce as Adrian, since he seems friendly and he's definitely knowledgeable. Would also be good to get his own brief description of himself and what he does, in addition to the problem itself, given Christine was eager to get you to him and move on with her job.
Maybe ask a little about Christine as well. It's obvious that she's just got stuff to do elsewhere, but you may be able to drum up a little sympathy by asking/confirming that she's not got a problem with you specifically. Every bit of information and good will is a tool you can use.

Greet him, keep it brief, let him do most the talking.

Introduce yourself, ask how long he's been working here

Introduce yourself and try to perhaps wring out as much info as possible without seeming suspicious, ask that you will need to go around and check computers individually, and that you need to know where you could find the captain.

Vergundy 2021/03/27(Sat)17:20 No. 993430 ID: 17c6f5
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The fox approaches and introduces himself. "Hello there, my name is Luce. I'm the Director of Research on the station. You must be here to fix our database problem?" He reaches out to shake Adrian's hand.

Vergundy 2021/03/27(Sat)18:16 No. 993440 ID: 17c6f5
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With expert timing, Adrian shakes the scientist's hand right as he's saying his name. "That's me. Adrian Sen, at your service. So, I'm curious, how exactly do you study the planet from all the way up here?"

Luce smiles at the question, clearly excited to explain his work. "Well, all the data and sample collection is done by drones that we send down. All we do really is analyze what they give us and tell them where to go next." He beckons Adrian to follow him deeper into the dark room. "Come with me, I'll show you."

Luce starts walking quickly, and Adrian has to jog for a few seconds to catch up with him. "Oh, I see. Cool! Do you ever have to do repairs on the drones themselves?"

"Yeah, they get banged up sometimes. Christine and her guys help out with that. They're better at mechanical stuff."

Christine. Adrian's still unsure about her, and whether or not she will be an obstacle to his mission. Maybe he can get some information about her out of Luce. "Speaking of Christine... What's her deal? I feel like she doesn't like me."

Luce chuckles. "Oh, don't worry about her. She's just a bit of a grump. Especially now, what with this hack giving her so much work to do. As long as you haven't create as many problems as I have, I promise she doesn't completely hate you." He smiles and winks at Adrian.

Adrian sighs in relief. "That's good to know." He looks back up at Luce. "It seems like you guys don't get along too well, though."

"Oh, she loves me, really. We've both been here since the station was first completed, so we've been working together for a few years now. I just have a tendency to make messes."

Sounds like Christine just takes her job seriously. Probably best to stay out of her way, then.

Start exploring the room a bit while making small talk. He probably won't mind you being a bit curious

Explore the lab a bit, see if you can find any specific information about the captain and or the IT head. Alternatively you can sneak in a few questions about who was the main person trying to tackle the hack so far.

Luce is passionate about his work, keep him talking so that he might let something slip. And ask about the drones/in general: How specialized are they/their tools for gathering data/samples, are they utilized for station repair as well, and what is the scale of the data you're trying to recover anyway? Knowing what the drones can do and how they operate might provide you with a tool to use, though the same applies for just about anything you'll learn.

Vergundy 2021/04/06(Tue)19:28 No. 995112 ID: 9a5438
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Sensing that Luce is more outgoing than Christine, Adrian opts to keep him talking in hopes that more useful info will come out.

As Luce stops at the end of the room and bends down to click and type on a screen, Adrian asks, "So, these drones, they just go down to the surface, pick up some dirt, then come back?"

Luce laughs, slightly condescendingly. "For the most part, that's the gist of it. They're capable of drilling about 10 meters into solid rock, so we've been using them to get a better understanding of the planets geological history, plate tectonics, things like that.

"We've also been using them to keep track of the quality of the surface terrain and soil in preparation for future permanent facilities. Possibly manned missions. That’s far down the line though.”

Vergundy 2021/04/06(Tue)19:29 No. 995113 ID: 9a5438
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Luce doesn’t seem inclined to talk about anything other than the research itself. Maybe a different topic needs introducing?


Just then, Adrian notices a folding table to the left of Luce’s desk. It seems to be a temporary workstation of sorts. On the table is a clipboard and what looks like some electrical engineering equipment. To the left of the table on the ground is a large spherical object mounted on stilts. It looks like one of the drones.

[Which object should Adrian investigate?]

Doubtful those drones have much in terms of security measures, even with the capability to pierce 10 meters of solid rock. Maybe you could take a closer look at that one?

Clipboards should hold some fun info

Check out that fox booty. More seriously, maybe find another subject to keep him preoccupied, such as himself; how he became head of research (since it's something he should be proud of), his education, and maybe his hobbies.
When checking out the items, you'll need to be quick and avoid touching anything. The clipboard will probably have the most comprehensible information, so check that out.

See if you can't sneak a quick peek at that clipboard. It can't be anything too important though if they've got lying out in the open, can it?