Uncanny Valley - Part 4

    You fell asleep???
    I guess.
    How?!
    No idea. Alright?

    Karlo paused for a minute, staring at the screen, before quickly adding.

    You said you're a doctor?
    Yea.

    He stared at the screen, expecting something more before...

    Well?
    Well what?
    You're a doctor. Any ideas?
    On why you're fell asleep?
    Yea.
    I don't know? I'm not really that kind of doctor. 
    Sorry. Didn't know. Although now that I think of it, I don't know much.
    ???
    Humor me. You've apparently woken me from Cryo, there is no one here, and you just had me wander to a security room to talk to you. So why don't you fill me in on what's going on?

    A loud, popping sound echoed through the hallways and the thick security door. It happened a few more times but disappeared just as quickly as it came; plunging him back into silence.
    "The fuck was that?" he asked absently.
    He glanced back at the door, waiting to see if the sound would happen again.
    It didn't.
    Turning back, he searched the desk and found a computer mouse and started clicking; trying to activate the eight other screens in front of him. While none of them displayed anything useful, he found that his mouse pointer did move to and fro across the ten screens and clicking on them removed the "EREWHON: Butler v.1.32" splash screen in favor of a username and password prompt.
    He'd need to play with that.

    You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just not sure what to do. Dr. Lethe began.
    Given what you said, let's start with this: what kind of doctor are you?
    I'm a doctor of Xeno-Biology with a specialization in Entomology.

    "A what?" Karlo asked out loud.
 
    I study alien bugs. she added, apparently sensing his confusion.
    Got it.

    That hung in silence for a moment before he added.


    So if I passed out because I was dying or something...? he asked.
    I could tell you what bug would eat you. 
    But not why?
    No. Unless it was a bug eating.
    Shit.
    Yea. Still, it's probably just the cryo. Humans weren't exactly meant for cold storage. It does all sorts of weird stuff to the system.

    He glanced down at his hands again. Were they shaking or was it his imagination?

    I'm sure you're fine. she added quickly. 
    So...are you one of those people that has all the bugs on the board with the pins and stuff? he asked. 
    What? Like taxidermy beetles? 
    Is that where you stick a needle through a bug and stick it to a board?
    A dead bug, yea.
    That's probably it.
    I do have a few of those, I actually got my first one when... typed out before suddenly being deleted. It was quickly replaced with "Yes, but sorry. We don't really have time to talk about that.
    I'm sure the beetles would be so sad.
    Can you take this seriously for a second?
    Look, lady. I don't really know what I'm taking serious at this point so I'm just riding it.

    POP! 
    POP POP POP!

    Right. Shit. Sorry. Just woke up. Of course. she typed quickly.

    Is everyone you know so cryptic or are you just special?

    POP! POP!

    Hang on. he quickly added.

    Getting up in the crowded little security office, he shoved the office chair to the side and reached the door. Much like the exterior, there didn't seem to be a door handle. Just that same security panel on the side with the same damn red light. 
    He tried knocking on the door. Then trying to pry it open. Then tap on the security pad itself.
    Unlike before, it didn't open.

    Is everything ok? was waiting for him when he sat back down. 
    No idea. Heard something weird.
    Weird?
    Popping sound a few times. Couple of em were loud but no idea what they were.

    For another extended moment, there was no response. Then...




    Don't leave the office. Is the door locked?
    I don't know. Can't even open the damn thing. Why?
    You probably heard gunshots. 

Xenophobia - Chapter 27

    The others glanced around at each other, not sure what to say. Illiquina watched them with an excited look that quickly dwindled.
    A moment of silence later, she buried her face back in her datapad and started pounding away.
    "I'm not sure I understand." Darrian said thoughtfully, the first one to speak again."So whoever it was that changed the info in the archives...they forgot to remove the information on the old judge's brothers?"
    "In essence." Illiquina responded with a mischievous smile, still typing furiously.
    "Wow." Ferris said stupidly.
    "Yep!" she said gleefully.
    "That seems like a huge oversight." Ferris continued.
    "Yes and no." Illiquina remarked.
    Ferris and Darrian traded confused glances.
    "What do you mean by that?" Darrian asked.
    Illiquina didn't respond.
    The silence grew louder, intensified by the incessant tapping.
    "Illiquina?" A'alan't 32 finally interjected.
    "Mmm?"
    "What do you mean?" A'alan't 32 repeated.
    "Well..." she said looking up. "whoever came through and changed the information on the judge did alter the information on the judge's brothers."
    Ferris let out a sharp, annoyed groan.
    "Then how is it any better than the judge's entry?" Ferris demanded.
    "Because they only deleted the info." she responded with a joyous grin.
    Again, they found themselves just staring at the little Cadrax.
    "How is that any different?" Ferris asked. "Or useful?"
    Illiquina's face darkened.
    "Actually, it's very useful." She quickly spat. "The judge's article was deleted and altered. His brothers only had specific segments removed and nothing else."
    "Or redacted, if you will." she added as an after thought.
    "How is that-" Ferris began.
    "Oh for the love of-! You really don't understand how your archive servers store information, do you?" she spat.
    "Illiquina." A'alan't 32 interjected once more with a warning in her tone.
    "Oh fine!"
    "Treat us as if we know nothing." Ferris quipped.
    "Like that would be hard." she snapped.
    Illiquina straightened herself up and took a deep breath, setting the datapad to the side for a moment.
    "Look: the archives are meant to store information." Illiquina started. "Meaning that, unless it has a good reason to, it doesn't simply purge information."
    "Information like 'old records', perhaps?" A'alan't 32 offered.
    "Precisely."
    "So you're saying that deleting something isn't a good enough reason to purge it from the archives?" Darrian asked, sounding utterly confused.
    "No! With multi-thread archiving, deleting something is just the beginning!" she said more excited than annoyed now. "If anything it's really just a hindrance."
    "I don't get it." Darrian said.
    "Me either." added Ferris.
    Illiquina stared at them with a look of complete derision.
    "Like I said: me know nothing." Ferris quickly shot out.
    Illiquina groaned under her breath.
    "Deleting is just the first level of the multi-thread purge in these systems. It removes the information from being readily displayed but it doesn't actually get rid of it. Unless the actual articles were altered...changed to reflect new information...none of the information in the stored backups is going to change."
    "In short," she continued. "If I can dig into the backup servers, I can pull out all of the information about our judge's dear old brothers."
    Darrian stared at the little Cadrax in awe. She was small and unassuming but she very well might be the most impressive one of the group.
    "Tha-that's incredible." stammered Darrian.
    "Damn straight."
    "What do you need from us?" asked A'alan't 32.
    "Absolutely nothing." she retorted. "Unless you know how to manually bypass 768 bit encryption or know how to plant a worm that will bypass security and draw out their database backups without triggering something?"
    "Do what now?"
    "That's what I thought." she said, scooping up her datapad.
    "How long should it take?" asked Darrian.
    "A while." Illiquina offered. "It might be worth heading home at this point. I'm going to keep working and let you know when I've made some headway. Very well might be a cycle."
    "Good luck." Ferris offered.
    Illiquina snorted and disappeared out into the hall.
        And with nothing better to do, the group said their goodbyes and made their way to their respective homes. That night, for the first time in a while, Darrian wasn't thinking of the humans or what was going on in their Sol system. His thoughts were racing with the possibilities with what Illiquina might find.

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