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[arcreact]

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text | video | audio

You know what to do.

Comments

[alan_1]

[He ignores it at first. With everything else going on at the moment, it isn’t like Alan doesn’t have bigger things to worry about than a blip of suspicious activity on the ship servers. However, it quickly becomes clear that these aren’t the fumblings of an amateur hacker. Probably not even those of a human judging by the simultaneous nature of the unexplained connections. A hacking program, then? A very subtle one judging by how it had attempted to cover its tracks, shuffling and relabeling log file entries to disguise its intrusions as normal network traffic. If Alan didn’t specialize in system security, he might not have noticed at all.

Being as that does happen to be his specialty, the first thing he does is trace the connections back to their source. The origin ends up being a single MID, newly registered, a fact that gives Alan pause. But something tells him this isn’t Clu’s doing. The sophistication of the hacking program reads “import,” not something that was created in the past few days, which means its creator is almost certainly someone accustomed to being on the user’s side of the screen.

That settled, his approach his more conversational than aggressive. A single, tantalizingly unguarded access point, which terminates in a plain, unencrypted text file.]

Looking for something?

[arcreact]

[ He'd been waiting for something like this.

When he ordered JARVIS to start knocking on doors, he anticipated running afoul of someone or something, because this is a place that has their network tightened well enough that he can't even crack a private text message. It's kind of embarrassing, actually, but impressive from a programming standpoint. Even if it frustrates the hell out of him.

But if they're going to play this game, he decides to have some fun with it. He has JARVIS hit all the same access points, this time leaving a deliberate trail in each log file that might've been difficult to piece together for a programmer less skilled than Alan. But as things stand, it adds up to the following message: ]

I SUPPOSE
THAT
DEPENDS ON
WHOS ASKING

[alan_1]

[At first Alan thinks the hacker hasn’t gotten the message. There’s no attempt to change strategy, no new measures to hide their program’s tracks. But investigating further, the minute differences he finds are… interesting. Deliberate, even. Piecing together the pattern, that instinct proves correct. The evasive answer gets a slight smile out of Alan. Someone afraid he’ll bring the hammer down on them, then?

He chooses another access point this time. There are no firewalls in place or anything that could potentially detach their program from the system. Just a few layers of encryption to chew on. A low-stakes game. There’s another text file at the end of it.]

Someone interested in system security. Found any vulnerabilities I should know about?

[arcreact]

[ It's too easy, which is how Tony knows this guy — or machine — is doing the equivalent of toying with him on his lunch break. Which is fine, because Tony'd been considering grabbing some grub, himself.

At least it's proving entertaining. ]

AIR TIGHT

[ Then, a second, pointed message: ]

SO FAR

[alan_1]

[Another text file in the same location a few seconds later. They might as well be texting.]

Good to hear. [Alan can’t take much credit for the network’s security himself. The bulk of its defenses seem to have been put in place well before he ever set foot on the ship.] Can I at least know if I’m speaking with a program or a user? Need to know who I should compliment for the trick with the log file entries. [With the kind of AI Alan’s seen on this ship, it could honestly be either.]

[arcreact]

[ Tony smirks to himself. He's not sure this guy's out for blood, from the exchange thus far, but he's not taking any chances. Still, he can't just let the question go. Character flaw. ]

DID YOU
CONSIDER
BOTH?

[ He and JARVIS are a package deal. ]

[alan_1]

That explains a lot. [Namely the very human style of expression filtered through a labyrinthine organization of clues embedded in the system files.] Are you two snooping for a reason? Or are you just getting a feel for the place?

[arcreact]

[ Tony's just glad the mysterious network security guy takes that answer in stride without asking obnoxious questions. Well, obnoxious questions besides the ones he is asking. ]

CANT KNOW
WHAT IM LOOKING FOR
IF I DONT KNOW
WHAT THEYRE HIDING
NOW CAN I

[alan_1]

[For all he’s supposed to be one of the stewards of the ship’s network and computer systems, Alan can’t say he’s exactly opposed to crewmembers learning what they can from what they might find nestled among the system’s files. He's just as interested to know what they might hide.]

I’d be interested to know what you find. So long as you look and don’t touch.

[And even then, it might be a good idea to put something in place to at least keep tabs on the mysterious intruder...]

[arcreact]

GENEROUS OF YOU
KEEP YOU POSTED
SHALL I

[ Tony doesn't trust any of this at all, of course, but as with anything framed even somewhat like a challenge, he's all in. It could be fun if nothing else, and if he gives some network security guy somewhere a headache, that's just an added bonus. ]

[alan_1]

If it’s not too much to ask.

You know how to get in touch.

[In the meantime, Alan will start working on something to let him know if the visitor oversteps his bounds.]