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maskormenacelogs2014-11-14 07:33 pm
darkpants_warmfeeling) wrote in maskormenacelogs2014-11-14 07:33 pm
Entry tags:
You think you've private lives, think nothing of the kind
WHO: ImPort investigators
WHERE: Maurtia Falls military base.
WHEN: Friday November 14th to November 28th- or the end of the investigation.
WHAT: Classified files have been leaked and tampered with. A mole is within the government. Five suspects have been detained, all with alibis. ImPorts are called in to help crack the case.
WARNINGS: Mild violence, mention of scars and torture.
MEMORANDUM CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET
TO: [REDACTED]
FROM: Sierra Thorpe, Mid-level Intelligence Division Lead
SUBJECT: Suspect Profiles
DATE: 11/11/2014
Below please find the summary profiles on the five suspects currently under investigation for the ‘Tattlecrime’ leaks. These profiles have all the information the ImPorts will be working with. If there is anything here the brass doesn’t want shared, you have until Friday to tell me.
I’m positive that the mole is one of these five, but no one has confessed yet. Hopefully our big ImPort heroes can put the pieces together before we have to let the suspects go. But I’m telling you now, they had better get results. If one of them wastes my time with nonsense, I want them off the base. I have too much on my plate as it is.
Above all we need to find out whether the mole was working alone or if there is someone else behind this crap. I'll let the ImPorts know about that angle too. Right now we’re looking at:
• The Soviets. Obvious choice.
• The Hornets. They’ve been more active lately.
• ImPorts. Either some new ‘villain’ or an individual we already know about.
• Someone linked to Parc Holiday. We know his ImPort records had ‘oversights.’ None of these individuals are connected to him, though.
• The people who ran that gladiator nightmare this summer. They had a lot of resources, and the investigation into them ran into a solid brick wall.
• Something we haven’t seen before. That would be the worst-case scenario. America has enough enemies already.
SUSPECT PROFILES
Identity: Alicia Waterhouse
Age: 37
Appearance: African-American female, rather short at five foot one, brown eyes, constantly wears horn-rimmed glasses, looks like she really needs to eat a proper meal.
Position: Computer Programmer, a lower-level worker for the FBI.
Means: As a programmer, Alicia works regularly with computers, programming various software, de-encrypting any sort of information they receive. She occasionally acts as tech support for the rest of the office.
Motive: Alicia was recently placed on probation for attending a freedom of information rally, which turned sour and led to multiple arrests. This is not the first time the government has reprimanded her for her outside activities.
Opportunity: With her work with computers, it is entirely possible that Alicia managed to find a back-door route to the ImPort files or, alternatively, downloaded them from a computer that she was repairing. She certainly has the technical skills to alter and distribute the files.
Alibi: Alicia went out to eat with her husband and daughter, both of whom verified that she was there. Interviewing the wait staff of the restaurant also proves that Alicia was there. The husband has remarked that Alicia showed up later than they were expecting, though--late enough that he had to call her multiple times to remind her of their dinner plans.
Other Notes: Her husband had recently been fired from his job and is currently looking for a new one. It’s suspected that Alicia is having an extramarital affair with a superior, Walter Mayhew, who is also being questioned. Additionally, Alicia has ties to suspect Veronica Hernandez, having lived on the same block as her during a stint in Nonah five years ago.
Identity: Colt Baum
Age: 42
Appearance: Caucasian male with close-cropped dark hair and grey eyes. A variety of scars are evident on his torso, back, upper arms and legs. There is no photographic evidence of him ever smiling.
Position: Black-ops field agent in classified CIA paramilitary unit. No official listed rank or record.
Means: Baum is highly-connected, holds top-level clearance for sensitive information, and has a reputation for being able to achieve the impossible. Accessing, altering, and leaking ImPort files would be well within his means.
Motive: Last year Baum was captured by the KGB while on a secret mission to Budapest. He spent two months in Soviet custody, enduring torture and brainwashing. He claims to have eventually escaped under his own power and made it to friendly territory, but there has always been some suspicion that he may have been ‘flipped’ by his captors, turned to the Soviet cause, and released to infiltrate the United States.
Opportunity: Baum has no permanent post or office. He is not assigned to any base and is constantly on the move as his missions demand. Since there is so little solid knowledge about his location and activities, he would have had ample opportunity to access ImPort files without anyone knowing.
Alibi: Baum refuses to provide a clear alibi, stating that his whereabouts at the time of the leak are too classified for his interrogators to know about. When pressed, he says that he was ‘in the field’ and cannot state anything more for the sake of national security. Due to Baum’s status as a black-ops agent, his claims cannot be conclusively confirmed or denied.
Other Notes: Efforts to contact Baum’s superiors to verify his ‘alibi’ have been met with evasion. Attempts to investigate his story of escape from Soviet captivity have been inconclusive, although there are reports of a KGB facility in Hungary burning to the ground around the time Baum claims to have escaped. It should also be noted that the possibility of Baum being ‘flipped’ was originally raised in a memorandum written Walter Mayhew, another suspect. This could have given Baum motive to frame Mayhew for the current leaks.
Identity: Veronica Hernandez
Age: 48
Appearance: Five-foot five Hispanic woman with wavy shoulder-length brown hair and piercing dark eyes.
Position: Department of Defense official based in Nonah, involved in co-ordinating information security for government installations in the area.
Means: While not a technical expert herself, Hernandez has the authority and connections to easily access the leaked files and arrange for them to be altered- if not by herself, then by a knowledgeable third party.
Motive: In the past, Hernandez worked closely with the ‘first generation’ of American superheroes, both native and ImPort. When the relationship soured, Hernandez dissented from government efforts to register heroes fiercely enough to cost her a promotion. Her personal ties with former heroes include possible members of the Hornets. In the government’s eyes this gives Hernandez possible links to a terrorist organization.
Opportunity: The suspect often manages her work via cell phone and laptop, which means she could have accessed the files from anywhere, at any time. There is a long list of possible third parties who could have been contacted by her, and the FBI is following up to narrow down the possibilities.
Alibi: Hernandez was on a vacation to Amistad, Texas during the file leak, and has produced travel records and hotel bills to prove her whereabouts. It is possible she could have executed the leak remotely, however.
Other Notes: It is theorized that Hernandez could have used her Department of Defense authority to order others to compromise and alter the files. Examination of her records have turned up no evidence of this, but it is possible the records have been altered just as the files were. Suspect Alicia Waterhouse, who shares Hernandez’s history of dissent, used to be her neighbor in Nonah five years ago, which may be important. Also of note is an e-mail argument she had three months ago with Yelena Lipniskaya, over some data she was requesting for the Secretary of Defense.
Identity: Yelena Lipniskaya
Age: 35
Appearance: Caucasian female with long brown hair, often pulled up into a bun or a ponytail, brown eyes. She tends to look a bit tired.
Position: Administrative Assistant for the Secretary of Defense
Means: Because of her position, Yelena often comes in contact with information through delivering inter-department memos, filing and sorting mail, delivering information to her boss, as well as attending Defense Department meetings on a regular basis.
Motive: Yelena is from Belarus, now under Soviet control. While she managed to defect as a teenager, coworkers report that Yelena still manages to hold some degree of nationalism towards the USSR. She also has had regular problems with her supervisors and co-workers in the government: Yelena has filed multiple harassment reports against people slandering her or refusing to promote her because of her Eastern European ancestry. None of those reports have been acted on.
Opportunity: Through her credentials with the Secretary of Defense, Yelena has the ability to request access to the files at any time. Aside from that, she regularly works overtime, staying at the department to catch up on work when there is nobody else there.
Alibi: Yelena's alibi is that she was at home, catching up on television with her cat. While people did see her leave the office at her regular time and did place her on the bus headed towards home, her neighbors were unable to verify whether or not she ever left her apartment that night.
Other Notes: Yelena's supervisors have stated that she's a great worker, though her interpersonal skills could use some work. Her neighbors, on the other hand, she gets along wonderfully with. She's a member of a Russian Orthodox church, which recently was the target of anti-Soviet graffiti. Three months ago Yelena had a lengthy e-mail debate with Veronica Hernandez while trying to acquire some documents under her jurisdiction. Hernandez initially refused to release the documents, saying Yelena did not follow proper procedure; Yelena accused her of obstructionism based on her ancestry and eventually convinced her to relent.
Identity: Walter Mayhew
Age: 55
Appearance: Six-foot Caucausian male with thinning dark hair, brown eyes, thick spectacles. Notable comb-over.
Position: FBI policy advisor specializing in domestic security matters.
Means: Mayhew holds top-level clearance as a result of his participation in Senate intelligence briefings regarding FBI involvement in national security.
Motive: Mayhew has complained about his pay level on multiple occasions over the past two years. He believes that he deserves greater money, recognition, and status within the government. Investigators have theorized that this may have made him susceptible to bribery by a hostile power.
Opportunity: Mayhew’s activities during the time the files were sent to Freddie Lounds cannot be verified. He claims he was working alone in his office, which would have allowed him time and opportunity to remotely access ImPort files.
Alibi: Mayhew does not possess the technical qualifications or the high-powered computer software necessary to alter the leaked files in the way they have been changed. It is possible he has more tech resources than anyone is aware of, or that the alterations were carried out by an unknown accomplice.
Other Notes: Examination of Mayhew’s financial records have turned up no evidence of new income. If he has been bribed, the funds have been expertly laundered. Mayhew has previously raised doubts about the loyalties of Colt Baum, who is now being questioned regarding the leak. Additionally, there is suspicion that Mayhew has been having an extramarital affair with one of the other suspects, Alicia Waterhouse, which may be relevant to the investigation.
WHERE: Maurtia Falls military base.
WHEN: Friday November 14th to November 28th- or the end of the investigation.
WHAT: Classified files have been leaked and tampered with. A mole is within the government. Five suspects have been detained, all with alibis. ImPorts are called in to help crack the case.
WARNINGS: Mild violence, mention of scars and torture.
MEMORANDUM CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET
TO: [REDACTED]
FROM: Sierra Thorpe, Mid-level Intelligence Division Lead
SUBJECT: Suspect Profiles
DATE: 11/11/2014
Below please find the summary profiles on the five suspects currently under investigation for the ‘Tattlecrime’ leaks. These profiles have all the information the ImPorts will be working with. If there is anything here the brass doesn’t want shared, you have until Friday to tell me.
I’m positive that the mole is one of these five, but no one has confessed yet. Hopefully our big ImPort heroes can put the pieces together before we have to let the suspects go. But I’m telling you now, they had better get results. If one of them wastes my time with nonsense, I want them off the base. I have too much on my plate as it is.
Above all we need to find out whether the mole was working alone or if there is someone else behind this crap. I'll let the ImPorts know about that angle too. Right now we’re looking at:
• The Soviets. Obvious choice.
• The Hornets. They’ve been more active lately.
• ImPorts. Either some new ‘villain’ or an individual we already know about.
• Someone linked to Parc Holiday. We know his ImPort records had ‘oversights.’ None of these individuals are connected to him, though.
• The people who ran that gladiator nightmare this summer. They had a lot of resources, and the investigation into them ran into a solid brick wall.
• Something we haven’t seen before. That would be the worst-case scenario. America has enough enemies already.
Identity: Alicia Waterhouse
Age: 37
Appearance: African-American female, rather short at five foot one, brown eyes, constantly wears horn-rimmed glasses, looks like she really needs to eat a proper meal.
Position: Computer Programmer, a lower-level worker for the FBI.
Means: As a programmer, Alicia works regularly with computers, programming various software, de-encrypting any sort of information they receive. She occasionally acts as tech support for the rest of the office.
Motive: Alicia was recently placed on probation for attending a freedom of information rally, which turned sour and led to multiple arrests. This is not the first time the government has reprimanded her for her outside activities.
Opportunity: With her work with computers, it is entirely possible that Alicia managed to find a back-door route to the ImPort files or, alternatively, downloaded them from a computer that she was repairing. She certainly has the technical skills to alter and distribute the files.
Alibi: Alicia went out to eat with her husband and daughter, both of whom verified that she was there. Interviewing the wait staff of the restaurant also proves that Alicia was there. The husband has remarked that Alicia showed up later than they were expecting, though--late enough that he had to call her multiple times to remind her of their dinner plans.
Other Notes: Her husband had recently been fired from his job and is currently looking for a new one. It’s suspected that Alicia is having an extramarital affair with a superior, Walter Mayhew, who is also being questioned. Additionally, Alicia has ties to suspect Veronica Hernandez, having lived on the same block as her during a stint in Nonah five years ago.
Identity: Colt Baum
Age: 42
Appearance: Caucasian male with close-cropped dark hair and grey eyes. A variety of scars are evident on his torso, back, upper arms and legs. There is no photographic evidence of him ever smiling.
Position: Black-ops field agent in classified CIA paramilitary unit. No official listed rank or record.
Means: Baum is highly-connected, holds top-level clearance for sensitive information, and has a reputation for being able to achieve the impossible. Accessing, altering, and leaking ImPort files would be well within his means.
Motive: Last year Baum was captured by the KGB while on a secret mission to Budapest. He spent two months in Soviet custody, enduring torture and brainwashing. He claims to have eventually escaped under his own power and made it to friendly territory, but there has always been some suspicion that he may have been ‘flipped’ by his captors, turned to the Soviet cause, and released to infiltrate the United States.
Opportunity: Baum has no permanent post or office. He is not assigned to any base and is constantly on the move as his missions demand. Since there is so little solid knowledge about his location and activities, he would have had ample opportunity to access ImPort files without anyone knowing.
Alibi: Baum refuses to provide a clear alibi, stating that his whereabouts at the time of the leak are too classified for his interrogators to know about. When pressed, he says that he was ‘in the field’ and cannot state anything more for the sake of national security. Due to Baum’s status as a black-ops agent, his claims cannot be conclusively confirmed or denied.
Other Notes: Efforts to contact Baum’s superiors to verify his ‘alibi’ have been met with evasion. Attempts to investigate his story of escape from Soviet captivity have been inconclusive, although there are reports of a KGB facility in Hungary burning to the ground around the time Baum claims to have escaped. It should also be noted that the possibility of Baum being ‘flipped’ was originally raised in a memorandum written Walter Mayhew, another suspect. This could have given Baum motive to frame Mayhew for the current leaks.
Identity: Veronica Hernandez
Age: 48
Appearance: Five-foot five Hispanic woman with wavy shoulder-length brown hair and piercing dark eyes.
Position: Department of Defense official based in Nonah, involved in co-ordinating information security for government installations in the area.
Means: While not a technical expert herself, Hernandez has the authority and connections to easily access the leaked files and arrange for them to be altered- if not by herself, then by a knowledgeable third party.
Motive: In the past, Hernandez worked closely with the ‘first generation’ of American superheroes, both native and ImPort. When the relationship soured, Hernandez dissented from government efforts to register heroes fiercely enough to cost her a promotion. Her personal ties with former heroes include possible members of the Hornets. In the government’s eyes this gives Hernandez possible links to a terrorist organization.
Opportunity: The suspect often manages her work via cell phone and laptop, which means she could have accessed the files from anywhere, at any time. There is a long list of possible third parties who could have been contacted by her, and the FBI is following up to narrow down the possibilities.
Alibi: Hernandez was on a vacation to Amistad, Texas during the file leak, and has produced travel records and hotel bills to prove her whereabouts. It is possible she could have executed the leak remotely, however.
Other Notes: It is theorized that Hernandez could have used her Department of Defense authority to order others to compromise and alter the files. Examination of her records have turned up no evidence of this, but it is possible the records have been altered just as the files were. Suspect Alicia Waterhouse, who shares Hernandez’s history of dissent, used to be her neighbor in Nonah five years ago, which may be important. Also of note is an e-mail argument she had three months ago with Yelena Lipniskaya, over some data she was requesting for the Secretary of Defense.
Identity: Yelena Lipniskaya
Age: 35
Appearance: Caucasian female with long brown hair, often pulled up into a bun or a ponytail, brown eyes. She tends to look a bit tired.
Position: Administrative Assistant for the Secretary of Defense
Means: Because of her position, Yelena often comes in contact with information through delivering inter-department memos, filing and sorting mail, delivering information to her boss, as well as attending Defense Department meetings on a regular basis.
Motive: Yelena is from Belarus, now under Soviet control. While she managed to defect as a teenager, coworkers report that Yelena still manages to hold some degree of nationalism towards the USSR. She also has had regular problems with her supervisors and co-workers in the government: Yelena has filed multiple harassment reports against people slandering her or refusing to promote her because of her Eastern European ancestry. None of those reports have been acted on.
Opportunity: Through her credentials with the Secretary of Defense, Yelena has the ability to request access to the files at any time. Aside from that, she regularly works overtime, staying at the department to catch up on work when there is nobody else there.
Alibi: Yelena's alibi is that she was at home, catching up on television with her cat. While people did see her leave the office at her regular time and did place her on the bus headed towards home, her neighbors were unable to verify whether or not she ever left her apartment that night.
Other Notes: Yelena's supervisors have stated that she's a great worker, though her interpersonal skills could use some work. Her neighbors, on the other hand, she gets along wonderfully with. She's a member of a Russian Orthodox church, which recently was the target of anti-Soviet graffiti. Three months ago Yelena had a lengthy e-mail debate with Veronica Hernandez while trying to acquire some documents under her jurisdiction. Hernandez initially refused to release the documents, saying Yelena did not follow proper procedure; Yelena accused her of obstructionism based on her ancestry and eventually convinced her to relent.
Identity: Walter Mayhew
Age: 55
Appearance: Six-foot Caucausian male with thinning dark hair, brown eyes, thick spectacles. Notable comb-over.
Position: FBI policy advisor specializing in domestic security matters.
Means: Mayhew holds top-level clearance as a result of his participation in Senate intelligence briefings regarding FBI involvement in national security.
Motive: Mayhew has complained about his pay level on multiple occasions over the past two years. He believes that he deserves greater money, recognition, and status within the government. Investigators have theorized that this may have made him susceptible to bribery by a hostile power.
Opportunity: Mayhew’s activities during the time the files were sent to Freddie Lounds cannot be verified. He claims he was working alone in his office, which would have allowed him time and opportunity to remotely access ImPort files.
Alibi: Mayhew does not possess the technical qualifications or the high-powered computer software necessary to alter the leaked files in the way they have been changed. It is possible he has more tech resources than anyone is aware of, or that the alterations were carried out by an unknown accomplice.
Other Notes: Examination of Mayhew’s financial records have turned up no evidence of new income. If he has been bribed, the funds have been expertly laundered. Mayhew has previously raised doubts about the loyalties of Colt Baum, who is now being questioned regarding the leak. Additionally, there is suspicion that Mayhew has been having an extramarital affair with one of the other suspects, Alicia Waterhouse, which may be relevant to the investigation.
INVESTIGATION
Somewhere in these folders is the truth about whoever compromised national security, shattered the privacy of ImPorts, and pissed a lot of people off. Can your characters catch the mole in time?
stiles; open.
[ more importantly, this is what he wants to do with his life, follow in his dad's footsteps. he's smart, he's registered, and he's got a history if being the first to figure things out. right now he's only civilian admin at heropa police department, -and it'll probably be years before that changes, but he longs to get his teeth into a real case, crack it wide open and start proving himself. ]
[ so here he is, with a copy of each suspect's file in a big sheath on a clipboard. he has a pink highlighter behind his ear, a blue one between his teeth, and a yellow one in his hand. occasionally he swaps one over, as he turns the paperwork into a neon rainbow of block colours. but he's not just making abstract art: he's trying to key the connections between the imports. he's certain that even if there's only one real mole, whoever it was? wasn't working alone. ]
None of these guys are imPorts, right?
[ he pulls the highlighter out of his mouth and tucks it behind his other ear, reaches for his can of soda (coffee just makes him sleepy.) ]
I mean. They'd tell us if they were. That'd be in the file.
no subject
thomas slumps down in a chair next to him, idly swiveling to one side and the other (office chairs are also awesome). ]
Yeah, seems like it'd be important to mention. [ he mumbles, leaning over to skim at what stiles color coded already ] You thinking another imPort would've released this stuff?
no subject
[ it's probably weird for other people to have them both there, but stiles kinda likes it, and he's way less cagey with sharing his thought processes than he would be with anyone other than lydia. ]
Yeah, I dunno. People are mad, but a lot of the damage is the way Freddie handled the leak. It's gotten a lot of publicity, it's detracted attention from the aftermath if the bombings, it gave people more knowledge of each other and what the government had on them, it's undermined the government's image and their power over us. And if they had technnopathy like Skye, or telepathy like you, they might be able to do a whole lot and keep a watertight alibi.
[ conspiracy theories 101. ]
[ he leans over, taps thomas' question marks about the gladiator stuff. ah, the summer games. ]
Definitely not these guys. They were testing tech and selling it to the highest bidder. Whoever's throwing this info out there doesn't care about money.
no subject
a moment passes while he's considering what he'd said after stiles is done talking, a hand almost completely absently scratching out the 'gladiator' stuff with a pencil after stiles tells him to forget about it. ]
You've got a point. [ he says, eventually, and stands from the chair he'd plopped in, moving over to where he'd had print outs scattered over the table. ] I've been thinking-- [ he rummages through the papers while he talks. ] With the Hornets, remember how I said they said they used to be 'Vanir'? They were talking about something happening to Holiday before it actually went down. Or, at least, before we got the message.
[ he makes his way back with some papers in hand, pushing Clark's collection of Hornets info over for Stiles to look at. ]
Annie said to ask Loki what Vanir are in mythology, and they were these Fate things that were supposed to have, like... foresight. [ it feels so stupid to say that, but he's had to suspend so much of his rational disbelief for this place anyway. ] So, if there's an imPort that has that, or even one with telepathy strong enough for it to skim through everyone in the government, that'd make sense, right? And it'd make something like this cake.
thomas | open, this is long and stupid omfg so sorry
- notes made to make imPorts seem mentally unstable/physically dangerous/untrustworthy/health risks to the American populace.
- emphasis on risks at Xavier's school
- no mention of suspicion of involvement with Soviets
- messages delivered to populace first (disrupt public's trust of imPorts), then to other imPorts 12 hours later (disrupt inter-imPort trust)
- confirmed false information in files sent to Lounds and other imports. NOTE: but was the false information originally within the government source they were taken from, or added onto it after extraction, before being sent to Lounds and other imPorts? trying to show government distrust of imPorts as well?
- freddie lounds is an asshole
WATERHOUSE
> freedom of information activist, government reprimands for similar activity outside of the work place.
> technical capability (de-encryption, programming). could have hacked a database, or acquired access to it through hacking or physical availability of a computer she'd be working on. isn't there a program that lets a tech support agent remotely control a desktop?
> late to dinner; could have been releasing files, could have been meeting with MAYHEW (see: affair)
> CONNECTION TO HERNANDEZ; tied as outside acquaintences (lived close together), similar views of dissent
> CONNECTION TO MAYHEW; suspected affair
HERNANDEZ
> authority & connections access to leaked files, no technical ability (which WATERHOUSE could provide)
> worked with 1st gen heroes, relationship went sour enough to cost her promotion.
> possible ties to HORNETS
> CONFLICT WITH LIPNISKAYA; email argument over due process and discrimation for Lipniskaya's heritage
> CONNECTION TO WATERHOUSE; tied as outside acquaintences (lived close together), similar views of dissent
MAYHEW
> top level clearance
> greedy whiner
> sounds like the kind to take a bribe, and petty enough for this too, but no trace of it. guy doesn't seem this sneaky, though. or this smart, i guess
> CONFLICT WITH BAUM; suspicion that he'd flipped to be a soviet loyalist during time being tortured. because nothing makes you warm up to a country like torture, right?
> CONNECTION TO WATERHOUSE; suspected affair. guy's got a combover and sounds like a big baby, why would you? unless top level security clearance is valuable.
BAUM
> 'in the field', but alibi can't be confirmed or denied due to the fact he's black ops
> suspicion that he'd been brainwashed and maybe be a soviet double agent. [ a little doodle here that looks like an eyeroll ]
> reports of a burned down kgb facility around the time he escaped. sounds like something we'd like to do to WICKED. not buying he's flipped.
> CONFLICT WITH MAYHEW; doesn't like him. no klunk, who would? mayhew casts suspicion on him, could give baum a motivation to frame him, but what the hell is a dude who's been tortured gonna care about office politics?
LIPNISKAYA
> watches tv with her cat
> secretary. handles office memos, mail and files. could peek, but would this kind of info be on a normal office memo?
> soviet heritage, seems pretty annoyed with getting discriminated against for it
> accused coworkers of slander and witholding promotions for her ethnicity
> supervisors say she's a great worker, but people skills suck. if i worked with mayhew and hernandez mine would probably suck too.
> CONFLICT WITH HERNANDEZ; argument over accessing documents she was entitled to, hernandez giving her a hard time on it. i'd like to see those emails
SOVIETS
- why? other than getting the public to distrust the imPorts, what about this links to the soviets, unless you want to be paranoid about Baum and Lipniskaya? maybe to weaken american unity, but the government's doing a pretty awesome job of that themselves as far as support for imPorts is going, between that and freaking out over people helping in Bulgaria. load of klunk. if anything, i'd say it looks more like HORNETS with Soviet backing, to cause disruption and distraction. can't fight a war on two fronts. but Baum and Lipniskaya seem too straight forward for this. don't know.
HORNETS
- seems to fall in line most with what we've seen lately, activity against imPorts, activity against government as a whole
- "She said something about the government keeping us in a bubble that no citizens were meant to pop--but she would make us pop where others would see us." - Dorian Gray
- "He Said That Things Will Get Worse Before They Can Overturn Them As If Anything Theyve Done Has Improved Matters For Anyone" "But There Was Something Else He Said. About Holidays Brain Rotting" - Kanaya
- "Some of them seem to despite the imPorts in particular because of the benefits given to us if we pledge our alliance, others because of our powers and how innocent people can be hurt if we don’t control them. Some are just scared. Most see us as weapons." - Clark Kent
- "We're doing you a favor, you know... you should be grateful. They won't always have your back. You can't see it yet -- maybe you never will -- but they're inches away from turning in on themselves like an ouroboros. You'll be next. And us, they won't even see coming." - Erin Stein, Hornet from the Nonah attack
- seem pretty sure the government's about to start messing itself up, and screw us over too? not sure how that fits in.
IMPORTS
- doesn't seem that likely. maybe an old one, thought they were mistreated before (you think?), trying to mess up what the government's got going on now?
HOLIDAY
- he'd been trying to help imPorts, this is trying to deface them. for all we know, this guy's a shuck vegetable by now, so doubting he or people worried about him had time to do this kind of hacking. could be, though, whoever set him up had their hands in this too.
GLADIATOR THING
- what even is this?
LACHESIS
[ no notes here, just the name, bolded as it seems that thomas has stared at it for a while while retracing the letters with his pen idly. ]
by now, thomas has commandeered a pretty huge part of the table for his paper-map, and he's had a whole freaking lot of coffee. some notes are highlighted or circled, in some places there's lines of sticky notes arranged to connect one piece of information to another, and there's an occasional doodle here or there (he gets bored sometimes, okay, don't stomp on his creative spirit). feel free to come comment on what he's written up, or on his discourtesous space-theft. he's not the neatest, or most organized person, but it all makes sense to him, okay, that's what's important. on the notepad directly in front of him though, that thomas is staring down at, there's the following scrawled:
hernandez convinced/plotted with waterhouse to use her affair (??) to gain access to mayhew's top level clearance, maybe hacked it from his personal comp, altered files, encrypted the source, sent them to hernandez, hernandez sent them out remotely. maybe mayhew knew, but kinda seems too dumb for that. could be hornets, could be personal
could be something totally different ]
no subject
He glances over at Thomas' pile, however, and looks genuinely impressed, leaning over the table to read some of it and laughing to himself.
Tapping on the end of his notes on Freddie. ]
Real unbiased notes here.
no subject
Where's the lie?
[ don't even pretend you're not thinking the same. ]
no subject
No lie that I can see.
no subject
so anyway, about that super serious investigation. ]
That, and, too dumb to do something like this on her own. What're you thinking? [ theorywise ]
no subject
What with everything or just her? Because if you're asking me about her, someone who didn't want their name out to the public fed her the information. Dunno who, but I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know either. I'm guessing the whole thing was done anonymously.
no subject
About everything. The suspects.
Freddie didn't seem like she knew on the network. The issue is, who was it? Someone that knew she was the right one to leak it to, at least.
no subject
[ A pause. ]
Seriously, one of those guys runs a frozen banana stand. I'm not seeing how his personal information was anybody's business.
no subject
[ being part of what this was. ]
It went public first, then the other files to imPorts specifically. So they were looking not just to discredit them to the natives, but make us start getting suspicious of each other.
Who'd benefit from that? [ he nods at the latter part. yeah, there was some stuff that made people freak, but there were a few on there with nothing really scandalizing abot them. ]
no subject
Someone that's got a problem with the people in charge here, and are looking to discredit their pet project. Turn the people against us, turn us against each other so we don't function the way the feds want us to? Things blow up and fall apart on them. It'd take more than just that, but it'd be a start. Plant the seeds of mistrust.
[ Leaning over to look at Thomas' notes again. ]
Problem is, you start looking at people that have problems with the government and your list of suspects is endless.
no subject
[ he moves some of the papers, dragging the notes on each suspect closer. ]
These two, the foreigners. They both look like the complaints against them are mostly for heritage, rather than anything really substantial.
no subject
Probably better to check them out last then if everything about the others checks out. No point wastin' a bunch of time if you don't have to.
QUESTIONS
no subject
[ stiles pops his head in, and when he sees ms thorpe isn't busy, comes right into the room and slides into the chair opposite her. he does actually wait for the go ahead, though. ]
I just had a couple of questions...
[ he's got a pen and clipboard, and he twirls the former like a drumstick. ]
Starting with: do you have a transcript of the Lipniskaya and Hernandez email conversation?
no subject
But at least he's asking a serious question, so he gets a serious answer:]
We do. Here-
[Have another file folder, Stiles! Despite living in a world of hovering cars and nano-tattoos, the military in this America still seems awfully fond of dead-tree format when it comes to their sensitive documents.]
Let me save you some time. It's thirty e-mails of stilted politeness trying to cover up ruffled feathers. Spend enough time stuck in an office, and you'll realize bureaucratic crap like this is always the same.
[Not that Sierra's bitter or anything. Nope.]
We already ran the contents through our known ciphers. They weren't talking to each other through code, if that's what you're thinking.
no subject
[ still he's flicking through the file with interest. maybe he just wants to snoop on some bureaucratic emails. maybe he's just young enough to still be really into the endless reading part of solving a case. it is a mystery. ]
Speaking of prejudice, how about Mayhew and Colt. There some kind of record of Mayhew —
[ he flicks rapidly back to his own paper on the clipboard to quote: ]
"Raising doubts" about Baum's loyalties? Did he file something?
no subject
[Sierra gives Stiles a curt nod, then holds up another folder. She pushes it over her desk toward him. Whatever feelings she has on being a filing cabinet for extradimensional teenagers, she keeps them to herself.]
This is an official memorandum filed with Homeland Security, a week after Baum escaped. Or "escaped", depending on what you think.
[Sierra raises an eyebrow as she makes air quotes along with the word 'escaped.']
Mayhew thought that Baum's escape tale sounded fantastic. Too fantastic. He wanted clearance for the FBI to keep an eye on him. He didn't get it, but he wasn't just ignored either. Some people have always been suspicious of Baum, and the memo just handed them more ammo.
no subject
[ hmmmm. stiles swings his chair back and forth like a little kid as he skims the file again and thinks. he's also chewing the inside of his mouth. way to get Thorpe taking him super seriously. ]
Actually, lemme just straight up ask you — have any of the suspects made any implications or allegations in regards to this whole allegation? I mean, it doesn't feel like it benefits Russia the way it does some of the other groups. But two of the suspects are there just 'cause of their international ties, and both of them have been discriminated against by other possible suspects.
no subject
No one has been pointing any fingers. At least, besides Mayhew at Baum. Since we detained him, he's been insisting that Baum must be setting a frame, and Baum just keeps clamming up when we try to get an alibi from him.
[If Sierra was the kind of person who rolled her eyes, she'd be rolling them right now. Black-ops types are always a pain in the ass as far as she's concerned.]
The Russians are serious suspects, Stiles. Compromising our security? Finding out more about our big ImPort protectors? Damaging public trust in superheroes? They could benefit from all of it.
[She shakes her head. Being American military intelligence, she has a pretty natural bias towards suspecting the Soviets when crap like this happens.]
Don't count them out.
no subject
Soviets have got plenty of dirt on us after Bulgaria. But this is the sort of Intel that international governments would want to use tactically. If they had a bunch of intel on imPort powers and no one knew? Think about how useful that would be. I just can't see the KGB doing a hack job using redaction to imply we're all assholes and handing it over to Freddie Lounds.
[ your honor, he rests his case. ]
Nah, the people who benefit the most are probably anti-registration imPorts. Also Freddie Lounds herself, but, uh. You questioned her, right?
no subject
[Sierra purses her lips. She's not going to challenge Stiles' case against the Soviets because she has to admit he might have a point: in her experience, they are capable of being much more precise than this hack-job.]
She doesn't know anything. We've turned her computer and communicator inside-out and we can't get a trace on who sent her the files. It looks like someone was just using her to spread crap everywhere. And she did a great job at it.
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Do we have warrants for registered people to search the houses or offices of the suspects?
[ because finding correspondences would be great. or just... looking for something beyond the facts on paper. ]
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If you're Registered, you have access to wherever you need to go. It doesn't matter what powers or qualifications you actually have.
[SILENT YET IMPLICIT GRUMBLING.]
Is there any particular place you want to look at? I can get transport ready for you.
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No, no, I'm not Registered. [ he says it distractedly, shaking his head. ] But someone should check out Mayhew and Waterhouse's places. Look for correspondences, evidence of the affair. When they planned to meet and where.
[ a pause, chewing at the inside of a lip. ] And see how close she got to his computer, or his access codes. Are there logs of when Mayhew's sign ins were used and where?
no subject
We'll get people on it. All that information is findable if you know what you're doing. I'll let you know when we have a report back. It won't take long.
[Because Sierra will bust people's asses to make sure they get the results she needs. She leans forward, clasping her hands, thoughtful as she rests her elbows on the papers crowding her desk.]
Are you thinking that she used him to get his codes? Or maybe that he used her to get at her tech resources.
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Thanks. Do I get to know if you find anything?
[ he knows he's not registered, so he won't have clearance for everything, but it'll bug the hell out of him wondering. ]
Maybe. I doubt it was Mayhew using her. He seems too dumb for that.
no subject
[TIMESKIP TO THE NEXT DAY! Sierra calls Thomas back to her office as soon as he's available. She has something for the ImPort: yet another file folder to hand over.]
It's all there, everything the agents found. There is absolutely an affair. Creepy bastard knows she's married and just doesn't care. [Sierra's nostrils flare slightly.] Even if he's not the mole, his career is crap after this. Complete violation of regulations, not to mention ethics.
[Thorpe opens the folder for Thomas and points to a particular tidbit: a text message exchange dated the week before the files were leaked.]
Here's something. She didn't get close to his computer, but he got close to hers. He insisted on meeting at her house twice, even though that could only happen when her husband and daughter were gone. And once he asked her to bring her work laptop to a hotel, so he could "take a look at something." We're questioning her now to find out just what that was. It could be important.
Sry for the icon, phone tagging
[ that... Wasn't expected, but now that he thinks of it, it makes sense. He didn't think mayhem would be smart enough, but he is definitely petty enough. There wasn't a bribe, unless he got it in cash and didn't deposit it, but there could be a few million other reasons.
Thomas moves into the room from the doorway, taking a seat in the chair opposite her desk and leaning forearms on it, brow furrowed in thought. ]
It'd be a good frame, putting it on Waterhouse, with her history if trouble with the goverent. If she had any kind of program that... scrambles IPs or encrypted sources, all he'd need to do would be send it from her laptop or computer. Or take the program.
[ he thinks for a second longer, chewing at a thumb nail. ]
If you can get a hold of her laptop and computer, I'd look for a program like that, or for something deleted. It's not always totally gone after a deletion, and I doubt Mayhew knows how to cover up those tracks.
why would you apologize for the best icon though
You're on to something there. You're definitely on to something. Mayhew's only alibi is that he didn't have the tech to make this work. If he got something from Waterhouse-
[She stands up.]
We already have her gear in evidence holding. I need to call our tech people. Wait here and don't touch my desk.
[Sierra is already pulling out her shoebox-sized cell phone (pseudofifties technology is weird!) from her uniform jacket as she exits the room, leaving Thomas alone. He can look at the information she gave him some more, or disregard her warning and examine her desk (not recommended). When she comes back in, she's beaming about as much as anyone like Sierra Thorpe ever does beam, which is to say not much.]
There is a program called BackCover on Waterhouse's laptop that can be used to send information anywhere without an electronic trace, just like the files were. And it was copied to another location on the night Mayhew asked her to bring her laptop to the hotel.
[She sits back at her desk, looking at the meddling teenaged ImPort with a lot more appreciation now.]
We're still checking, but I would expect that we'll find records of that program installed and then deleted from Mayhew's office machine at the time of the leak. With that program, he could have sent the files anonymously without being tracked.
[Sierra resumes her finger steepling, smiling a little.]
If I take this information into an interrogation, I might get Mayhew to crack. But it will be easier if I can throw his employer in his face as well. Get back to me when you have an idea who put him up to this- unless the bastard was working for himself.
its the most wonderful time of the year okok
the theory stiles was onto keeps coming back, and he can't help thinking about how the hornets had mentioned Lawrence, and how Annie had named him as one of the missing imports. there has to be a connection somewhere there. maybe there wasn't a motive. maybe he'd been controlled into it. he did seem pretty weak minded, after all.
when Sierra comes back in, thomas hand snaps away from the picture he'd been looking at, eyes jerking back to her, to hear the news. eff yeah, there was a program on there. no doubt, it has to have been him, then. there's another short, contained smile, but he's quickly furrowing his brow after, rolling it over in his head. ]
I dunno yet. Stiles was on to something. Think we need to look over it some more. I'll let you know when we've got some theories.
Thanks.
THEORIES
Suspect(s): Who did it?
Employer(s): Who were they working for?
Motive: Why did they do it?
Method: How did they do it? Address the suspect(s) alibi, if any!
Remember, if your character tells Sierra they have cracked the case but the theory doesn't pan out, she will kick them out of the investigation! So your character should be reasonably confident in their ideas before they come forward. On the other hand, if the military follows up on your character's claims and identifies the mole, ImPorts will finally learn the truth about who leaked their files and why.
no subject
Suspect(s): Mayhew
Employer(s): Difficult to say with lack of evidence, but Thomas is going to go with Hornets, because of the prediction that the imports would have their protective bubble popped soon. thomas will also support stiles' theories as well. there isn't a lot of evidence on it, and it'll likely rest on how the interrogation goes, and what Sierra can get from him.
Motive: he doesn't seem to have a grudge against imports, and the Baum grudge seems too simple for something this risky. he'll suspect that there was some kind of bribe, either for something promised, or money that was paid in cash.
Method: as Sierra uncovered, mayhew used his affair to get access to waterhouse's laptop, from which he took the BackCover program, and then used it to anonymously send out the import files he already had top level clearance to access.
CONFIRMED
"I've worked for this government for years. I've put more blood, sweat, and tears into this than half the people at the damn department! And what do I get in return? Absolutely nothing." Mayhew pauses, scowl on his face, before launching into a new tirade. "They promoted that new kid over me. That little snot-nosed twenty-something. He doesn't care about this place! He doesn't give a damn about America! So sue me if I tied my horse to someone who actually recognizes my accomplishments for what they are. And so what if I used Waterhouse to release those files, this is the government. We use people and then forget about 'em on a daily basis. Yeah, I did it. I sold those imPorts out. And I'd do it again if I had the chance. At least my new employer recognizes me for the asset that I am."
Attached to the recording is a short, curt message:
He wasn't working for the Hornets. We might never know who was really behind him. But we still know enough to send him to prison.
Good work. And thanks for the help.
-Sierra Thorpe, Mid-level Intelligence Division Lead
Thomas and the other investigators can discuss and react to this resolution in this thread as they wish. With the case closed, the remaining detainees are being released while Walter Mayhew is formally arrested and handed over to federal custody to await trial.
no subject
Suspects: Alicia Waterhouse and Veronica Hernandez.
Employers: Stiles is arguing on behalf of imPorts: either that one of them is or is connected to an imPorted/powered individual. He does also note that if there is an imPorted/powered individual in or helping the Hornets that could also be connected. Hernandez' old imPort buddies are more likely than newer/later generations. Alicia in this theory was possibly working solely for Hernandez rather than in contact with her employers.
Motive: For Alicia it's personal. Discontent with the status quo including her own life and marriage as well as the US political situation and possibly the challenge of such a hacking project. Maybe there's also money involved, or her friendship with Veronica runs deep. For Veronica, however, this is a pro-imPort move. She and her employers' goals are to give the current imPorts some level of control over their own information, and sever their trust of the government's security systems and intelligence while strengthening individual import bonds. The timing has also drawn the media's attention to the imPorts as people, as demonstrated by the instant celebrity of those whose files a Freddie published, which in turn is a distraction from the political furor surrounding the imPort community as a whole after the bombings.
Method: Veronica accessed the files well in advance of the leak and passed them onto Alicia, who decrypted, altered, and reencrypted the files herself. Once both women had determined their alibis, Veronica organized who Alicia would distribute to from Texas, and authorized the leak via phone. Alicia then used BackCover to leak the files, which made her late for dinner with her family. Her affair with Mayhew was started solely because he seemed like a good target for a frame job, and it's likely a lot of Alicia's testimony will point there to distract attention from Veronica.
no subject
Fortunately, Stiles and Thomas submitted their theories fairly close together, and so by the time Stiles' views have been rejected, the real mole has confessed. Sierra is in such a good mood (relatively speaking) that she will not eject Stiles from what little remains of the investigation.