maskormenacelogs | catch-all ( to distract our hearts from ever missing them )

[The computer Cadel is using is one he's built himself, to real world modern Earth's specifications and not local, half-retro tech. The first thing he'd done upon setting it up is establish defenses as air tight as he could make them. He also doesn't host anything identifying on there-- he doesn't have network communications through it, and he keeps all of his data on his power elsewhere. Mostly what is on it is a bunch of circuitry schematics of a high level of understanding, and records of what he's pilfered from his other hacking ventures.

Of course, compared to what the Major's used to, his set up probably feels retro.

He doesn't detect the back-hack right away, as he hadn't been looking for it so quickly. When he does, he sits up straight in surprise and a little panic. Thankfully by now he's fine tuned his tech command power to be able to type with his mind without difficulty, which means that his retaliatory efforts come back at a rate faster than a human is able to type. It's the smoothest he's ever used his power, when he's doing it instinctively and not thinking about it.]

[One of the benefits of a cyber-brain is being able to hack at the speed of thought. He's got his own defenses in place, so she's not dealing with a rank amateur that just decided to fool around. She rapidly attempts to bypass his security. The technology definitely isn't on a level she's used to--barrier mazes and attack systems won't be invented for quite a few years, if at all in this world.

She searches the system, trying to find a webcam or voice system to activate to hopefully get some info on her hacker. If he's worth his snuff, he won't have anything incriminating on there anyway, so this might be her best bet to determine who it is. If she manages to open a voice channel, she'll issue a simple message: "You've got a hell of a lot of nerve."]

[It's not that Cadel hasn't ever been caught flat footed before. He's absurdly smart, sure, but his age is a limiting factor in how much experience he has, and Vee (short for Dr. Virus for good reason) used to outwit him regularly due to that, not to mention Dot and Com. It's just that none of them had ever left him messages. They all knew each other and knew their goals, knew there was no point in speaking; none of them would reveal anything.

This, though, is an entirely different game. Cadel allows the voice channel to open out of morbid, half-horrified curiosity. He has a mic pick up, but no camera. Oh, God. This is exactly the reason Saul doesn't want him to do stuff like this, and here it is, smacking him in the face.

Prosper didn't raise him with the golden rule of don't get caught to no effect, though. His voice is level and controlled when he answers, although he can't help that it identifies him as young indeed.]

Who is this?

[He hasn't lost anything except her knowledge that he'd tried to hack her, not yet. And, well, he does have a lot of nerve.]

[So it's a kid. Not too surprising. But the real question is why he's trying to hack her. He doesn't sound like anyone she's encountered thus far. Maybe he saw her initial network post and took it as a challenge.]

Don't play dumb, kid. I'm the one you just tried to hack.

[She's not idle while talking. He might notice that she's continuing to try and poke around his system. Though there doesn't appear to be anything particularly revealing thus far.]

Edited 2015-03-23 17:47 (UTC)

[Cadel's silent for a few moments as he tries to plant something for her to uncover that he could use to piggyback into her system. Anyone this good must be protecting something, right?

It would sound childish to say, but I didn't know you'd find me in retaliation. Cadel resorts to bluffing, though really, he tells the truth.]

I didn't recognize the formatting, and I was curious. You're from an advanced world, aren't you? [He's looked at Isaac Clarke's RIG already, so the thought does occur. The idea that she's speaking literally, that he'd hacked her, doesn't.]

[She's skillfully avoiding anything that seems suspicious. Besides, she's not dropping any of her defense barriers. Given that his system seemed to be over a decade old by her world's standards, he'd have to be a massively impressive savant to figure out how to get through her defenses without even knowing how they work.]

Compared to the technology you're using, yes. So you see something you don't recognize and try to hack it? You do realize how illegal that is, don't you?

[He's not that impressive a savant, though he is memorizing everything he can even as he's blocked. The second or maybe third time he's up against something like this, he'll do much better.

Cadel certainly knows how illegal it is, and does in fact feel some guilt over that. He doesn't enjoy violating anyone's privacy, but he feels so helpless and alone here that it's led to some poor decision making.] Illegal like being party to kidnapping by refusing extradition? [he asks sharply, because it hasn't missed his notice that they can't leave the U.S., which makes the government complicit in that much.] Or illegal like refusing to give humanitarian aid to what amounts to refugees unless we agree to accept missions whose aims we aren't privy to?

I think I'm entirely justified in doing what I can to protect myself.

[He's got a point, but it still doesn't justify trying to hack into someone seemingly at random. If he's trying to make a statement, he'd do a better job by going after those actually responsible.]

I don't like it any more than you do, but I've got nothing to do with it. If you're so full of righteous indignation at the military, maybe you should focus your efforts on them.

So you're going to protect yourself by hacking my brain? To what? Blackmail me? I don't buy it.

Edited 2015-03-24 23:43 (UTC)

[Cadel does intend to hack the government at some point, but he wants to be in a much more stable position before he does it. He's not about to incriminate himself further, though, so he ignores that point and hopes it isn't returned to.]

If you aren't doing anything wrong, I won't have anything to blackmail you with, [he says impatiently, focused as he always gets on logical fallacies, before he realizes how that makes him sound. Cadel rushes on with real feeling,] Not that I'm going to blackmail anyone. I'm not. I don't enjoy violating privacy, but haven't you heard of threat assessment?

[He's conscientious that if she decides to go looking for him in the real world, to make this into a hunt, he's the only imPort with an Australian accent that he's heard at all. At least he's never spoken on the network. Cadel curses himself for never learning a different accent, but he'd never gotten that far in disguise class before the Axis Institute dismantled. He needs to dissuade her of him as a threat; maybe he can pass himself off as a whiny, stupid kid instead. It's a little humiliating, but Cadel's encouraged worse opinions of himself for self-preservation before.

He thinks of Hamish and inserts a trace of sullenness at being caught into his voice.] I don't see why I should have to obey the law in a situation like this. I'm not going to hurt anyone.

Threat assessment? Is that what you call hacking a random person?

[Really, she doesn't have much of a moral leg to stand on. She's been known to borrow the entire bodies of people who just happened to be in the right place at the right time for her investigations. But she's still not sure she understands what benefit he would have gotten if he'd successfully hacked into her brain.]

I understand your youthful passion. But if I can easily back-hack you, I'm sure others can, too. You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble if you hack the wrong people.

[The benefit is called compulsive information collecting and paranoia...

Cadel breathes out silently in relief that he seems to have convinced her he's just a rash kid. (He's unaware of the irony that he is a rash kid.) It's with real frustration that he says,] I know, but I can't do nothing. It's too easy to feel trapped here. [A beat, before an even more honest,] And I know it's wrong, too. I'm sorry.

[She's reasonably convinced at this point that he's just a fairly well-meaning kid that didn't really know what he was getting into. She doesn't honestly expect a few stern words to keep him out of trouble, but maybe he won't trouble her again, at least.]

Good. Do me a favor and don't try to hack me again, okay?

[Cadel definitely won't be troubling her again. Although he's also not about to realize just how accurate her opinion of him is.]

No problem, [he says a little fervently. His scientific curiosity is too strong for him not to go on,] You are from a future, aren't you? I can't figure out what else it could be. You're faster than me.

[Him with his mind-controlled typing, he means, which Cadel might be new at but has certainly never encountered before.]

catch-all ( to distract our hearts from ever missing them )

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