Private Luxury, Lies, and Other Technical Failures

[Ana Rix]

Ana nodded in complete agreement. "I don't think either of us signed up for this expecting an afternoon sprint through a diplomatic summit." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "My idea of investigative work generally involves comfortable chairs, secure networks, and coffee that isn't consumed while running."

Her gaze drifted toward the officers escorting the Clawdite away. Whatever had been on that datapad was valuable enough to risk exposure, a public chase, and arrest. People did not make those calculations unless the alternative was worse.

"Exactly," she said thoughtfully. "Most thieves abandon the prize once they're cornered. She didn't. She kept trying to get away with it, even after security started closing in." She looked down at the recovered datapad in her hands. "Whatever is on here was worth more to her than remaining anonymous. That's...interesting."

When Jack gestured toward the seating area, Ana followed his gaze before giving an approving nod. "I think we've earned sitting down." She fell into step beside him at a far more civilized pace than moments before. "Besides, I suspect we'll do better thinking when our hearts aren't trying to set speed records."

As they reached the chairs, she lowered herself into one with an audible sigh of relief before setting the datapad carefully across her lap. "All right," she said, looking over at Jack. "Let's find out what was important enough to make someone believe outrunning security was the better option."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

Jack gave a nod of his head to her and finding a place where they would be able to sit down and look it over. The information on the screen was encrypted for a moment while he was letting Ana do her things to bring it up. "It is not unheard of, some fear the consequences more then the ones coming after them or there is the chance whatever it is was is too valuable. A rarity perhaps but if you can dump the information and retrieve it later then it is more beneficial then losing it." He was looking at it and wondering but there were plenty of diplomatic endeavors that they could stumble upon.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana looked down at the recovered datapad for only a moment before shaking her head. She didn't even attempt to wake the screen. Instead, she turned it over slowly in her hands, studying the casing rather than the display itself. "Not here," she said quietly. "If whoever secured this knew what they were doing, the lock screen is the least interesting part." Her eyes swept across the park and the delegates still filtering out of the summit building before returning to the device. "It could transmit the moment it's activated. It could erase itself after too many failed attempts. It could even be waiting for someone to remotely connect the instant it comes online."

She rotated the datapad once more before lowering it to her side without touching the screen again. "Whoever she was working for may already know she was caught," she continued thoughtfully. "I'm not interested in confirming that we recovered the device by waking it up in the middle of a public park." There was no frustration in her voice, only the calm caution of someone who had spent years assuming technology would behave in the worst possible way. "If there's something important on it, I'd rather not be the reason it disappears."

A faint smile crossed her face as she looked over at Jack. "Let's find somewhere quiet," she suggested. "A controlled environment, proper equipment, and preferably somewhere without half the summit walking past us." She looked briefly toward the conference center before returning her attention to him. "I'm very good at being patient when the alternative is accidentally destroying the evidence."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"Alright then." He said it and was on his comlink as some of the security officers were coming over and giving them information. One looked over and Jack motioned for Ana but was checking on something else with a datapad. "We'll be able to get the security office nearby. THey are going to hold the clawdite at the main facility. It is older here but they are planning to decommission it for a new one. So the risk of someone being alerted is low and most people look at the new one being built that they are starting to operate out of." He said it while moving and the security officer was going over with a datapad to scan and get documented information for their records and files."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana gave a small nod as Jack explained where they were going, relieved that someone had access to a location better suited to examining the recovered datapad. An older security office wasn't necessarily ideal, but the fact that most operations had already shifted toward the newer facility could work in their favor. Fewer people meant fewer active systems, fewer curious eyes, and considerably less chance of someone noticing what they were doing. "Older doesn't bother me," she said as she fell into step with him. "Quiet does sound appealing."

As the security officer approached with the datapad, Ana cooperated with whatever information they needed for the official record, though she kept careful possession of the recovered device until someone explicitly needed to document it as evidence. After everything they'd gone through to retrieve it, she wasn't particularly eager to watch it disappear into an evidence locker before they knew what was on it.

"The fewer active connections in that office, the better," she added once they started moving again. Her attention shifted briefly toward Jack. "Once we're there, I want to look at what equipment they have before we do anything with this. Then we can decide how paranoid we actually need to be." A faint smile touched her lips. "I'm hoping the answer is considerably less paranoid than I'm currently imagining."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

He gave her a nod to that. "NOthing wrong with paranoid though the need for something like all of this raises my eyebrows. Even sending a clawdite that is not entirely cheap." He said it while he was looking at it and he wasn't entirely sure what it might be as getting led through the streets he was looking at the security guard who was with them and leading the way. The buildings getting older and more spaced out for the moment when Jack looked at it. "Haven't seen the old districts in a long time." He said it and the man looked at him. "The danger has always been when people are attacking they attack the buildings and it endanger's more people. New offices are shielded and made where people can't be endangered when they try and attack us."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana listened as they walked, her eyes drifting from the newer structures in the distance to the aging buildings around them. Time showed differently on architecture than it did on people. Fresh paint and newer materials could hide it for a while, but eventually every facility became yesterday's solution to today's problems.

"It makes sense," she said after a moment. "Most people think about protecting information. They forget the building housing that information can become the target just as easily." She glanced toward the officer. "Moving critical operations somewhere designed to withstand that seems like a sensible investment."

Her attention returned to Jack. "And you're right about the Clawdite," she agreed. "They're not disposable assets. Someone committed real resources to stealing this datapad, which means whatever's on it was worth planning for." She looked ahead toward the old security office. "That also means whoever organized this probably has contingency plans. I'd rather find out what we're dealing with before they have a chance to use them."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix


Jack gave the nod as they were going inside and there were a few security officers there. A woman behind the front desk as she was packing things up but also giving them a few more things to be able to check out. "I'm sorry, we're in the middle of transferring; if you need assistance the new..." She trailed off while she was looking at them. WIth the officer who was with them. "Oh Officer Donovan." She spoke and there was a look for a moment as the man spoke. "Yeah Maki, we are just here for safety, we'll be in the back." He spoke and was leading Jack into the back with Ana while Jack was going over the building as parts of it was being sealed up over the windows and other doors. "We can use one of the interrorgation rooms."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana glanced around the aging station as they followed Officer Donovan farther inside. There was a peculiar feeling to buildings in the middle of being abandoned. Desks were half empty, cabinets stood open, and the usual rhythm of people working had been replaced by the quieter sounds of packing and moving on. It felt less like a police station and more like a place between one purpose and the next.

"An interrogation room works," she said with an approving nod. "Solid walls, a door that closes, and hopefully not much in the way of active networking." She looked toward the windows that had already been sealed and allowed herself a small smile. "For once, the old building might actually be an advantage."

As they reached the room, Ana waited until the door had shut behind them before placing the recovered datapad carefully on the table instead of immediately interacting with it. She studied it for a quiet moment, then looked to Jack. "Before I touch this," she said, her tone becoming more professional, "I'd like to know what we're working with. Does this office have an isolated terminal or a way to block outgoing transmissions? If the answer is no, I'll adjust how I approach it. I'd rather spend an extra ten minutes being careful than lose whatever she was trying so hard to protect."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

Donovan looked at her. "We installed some barriers a long time ago. Main reason for a new building is all of that can be built in already instead of just attached to the walls." He said it but pointed while looking around. "THey have been stripping a lot of the equipment so there might be some of it left, no idea if they are still powered on or already removed and boxed up. The building is likely going to be turned into office buildings or maybe some apartments." He said it and Jack was looking around with a nod. He had an idea for what might be there. "We should be alright, the walls are usually thick as well to work in preventing signals from getting out."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana nodded as she took in the room, her eyes lingering on the conduit running along the walls and the empty spaces where equipment had already been removed. It wasn't an ideal workspace by any means, but it had one thing she valued more than modern hardware right now: isolation.

"That's actually encouraging," she said. "I don't need the latest equipment. I need a room that doesn't announce to the rest of the city every time a datapad wakes up." She glanced toward the thick walls Jack had mentioned, giving an approving nod. "Sometimes old construction has advantages newer buildings forget."

Setting the recovered datapad on the interrogation table, Ana rested her fingertips lightly against it without activating the screen. "Let's see what the room still has before we touch this," she said. "If there's an isolated terminal or even a basic analyzer left behind, I'd rather use that first. If not, I can still work with it." A faint smile crossed her face as she looked between Jack and Donovan. "I'd just prefer our first interaction with this thing to be on our terms instead of whoever encrypted it."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix
"I don't think we have anything like that. this is an interrogation room, not a lab. We had security cameras and in some maybe biometric scanners and regulators in case a species had a specific need." Donovan said it while he was going and there was the table. "We got the table and maybe some filters for breathingfor some species that need more then just oxygen. Might have some reinforced cuffs that could be used for a wookie or larger alien." He said it while looking and Jack gave a nod of his head when he was looking over the room and some other parts of the walls. "It will do, she is just being careful and wants to make sure we aren't bringing an explosive device in here."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana smiled faintly at Jack's summary before looking back to Donovan.

"Explosive is only one possibility," she said. "The more likely concern is that it tells someone we've found it." She set the datapad gently in the center of the interrogation table, careful to leave the screen dark. "A transmission, a dead man's switch, a routine that wipes the storage after the wrong authentication attempts. Modern security is usually designed to protect the data long before it protects the hardware."

She took a slow look around the room one more time, noting the lack of sophisticated equipment without seeming disappointed. In a way, Donovan's answer was reassuring. Fewer active systems meant fewer variables to account for. "Actually, this may be better than a lab," she admitted. "There's very little here for it to interact with if it does try to reach out."

Resting her fingertips lightly on the edge of the table, Ana looked between Jack and Donovan. "First, I want to see how it behaves without waking it normally." Her expression settled into the quiet concentration that always came with technical work. "If whoever built this expected it to be stolen, I'd rather learn how they think before I give them the satisfaction of making the first move."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

Jack gave her a nod as he walked around and was looking at the table for the moment. ALlowing Ana to open it and take her time before he looked over the casing and the device. "Well I am convinced it won't explode... Famous last words but I planned to generally die in bed surrounded by loved ones." He said it but had some ideas about what they might be able to do here. He was interested in what might be there on the datapad itself but this was a lot of security for all of it. He would have to check in on the clawdite and see what they might be able to learn about her own there might be a risk to her safety under the same conditions.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana gave him a sidelong glance, the corner of her mouth lifting.

"I'd prefer your prediction to be the accurate one," she said. "An exploding datapad would make the paperwork unnecessarily complicated."

She drew the device a little closer, resting it on the table so neither she nor Jack was directly over it. Rather than pressing the power control immediately, she spent several quiet moments examining the casing, the seams, and the data ports. It was less about finding a hidden explosive than looking for signs that the hardware itself had been modified. Finding nothing obviously unusual, she finally exhaled.

"All right," she murmured. "Let's see how paranoid its owner actually was."

Using a pen she'd borrowed from the interrogation room rather than her fingertip, Ana depressed the power button just long enough to wake the device. She deliberately refrained from entering credentials or interacting with the interface beyond that first activation, simply watching. Her attention wasn't on the display but on the behavior of the datapad itself. Was there an unusual delay? Did it attempt to establish a connection? Did it reboot unexpectedly? Did anything about its startup differ from a standard operating sequence?

When the display stabilized without any immediate sign of distress, she allowed herself the faintest nod. "Good," she said quietly. "If there was a simple trigger tied to powering it on, we would likely have seen it by now." Only then did her eyes settle on the login screen. She made no move to authenticate, instead studying it with the same patience she'd shown from the beginning. "Now the interesting part begins. Security systems are designed to convince you the first question is 'What's the password?' Usually, that's the wrong question."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"NOt forr either of us." He took a moment to look at her with a grin on his face for it but he was in for the credit and in for the pound as he sat at the table to listen to what she might be able to find and explain how she was getting through it. He didn't know what was there on it but it had been important and she was the expert who had been searching for it. He was just the really good looking buddy in the situation so she would have someone to play off of and bounce those ideas. THeir solutions being a combination of their unique skillsets.