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 Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:55 pm
"One better," the shadow mage replied, holding up a small, flat, red-and-black rectangle of plastic that- Oh. Well now. "I have the Captain's clearance card. Come on then, right this way."
He led them down a staircase into the room with the Coven terminals and slid the card into a receptacle beneath the screen of one. His fingers began to tap across the keyboard, slow at first, then faster over the next few seconds. Prompts, error messages, and overrides blinked in and out of existence across the screen.
"And we're in. It should activate on a voice command of anyone registered to the Coven database-" They tried not to groan, remembering the hour-long recording session they went through as they entered the military, logging thousands of common words into their personal vocal database. "... So since you guys agreed to come along, I'll let you choose whom we look up. Just call out the officers' name and it should activate. Who knows, we might even get into files on others - the general or Sai, maybe."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:43 am
Isaac's head was spinning with the possibilities - information was vital, especially to the Clockies. But he was too engrossed in thought and afraid of somehow screwing up to actually shout out a name.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:18 pm
"Well, let's see if we can get anything on non-crewmembers first - Joe Simpson," she declared. "If this works, maybe we can get things on people we know less about outside of the ship, as you said. Sai, McCulloch - perhaps even something about mal'Reist." The oddball at the end might be more interesting than disturbing, but somehow she doubted it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:18 pm
The computer hummed quietly, then announced in an intentionally synthesized-sounding voice:
"Processing file... Joe Simpson, confirmed.
Rank: Magus-General
Present Occupation: Leader of Xanadu-3, Magus General, and Liaison to the Djinni-"
"AND CHAMPION OF JUSTICE!" Joe's voice suddenly roared from the speakers, so loud that it degenerated partly into interference with itself. It seemed Joe had made mild alterations to his own file.
In the computer's synth again, "Service Record: Classified. This information has been locked in accordance with Protocol X7."
"Protocol X7 is the DO's personal code. McCulloch locked his service history...?"
The computer continued. "Known strengths: Fire Magic, Class 9A; Channeling - linked to Consular Iblis of the Djinni;
Known weaknesses: Error, no weaknesses known.
Biography: Classified. This has been blocked in accordance with Protocol X7."
"Again...?" the Shadow Magus muttered. "Looks like that's the end of that file," he added when the computer went silent. "All right, what next?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:30 pm
Ty giggled when he heard Joe's voice, and somewhat more quietly when the computer said that Joe had no weaknesses. Of course he didn't! Otherwise he'd be dead. It seemed that some members of their party didn't totally agree with the computer's account, but that was okay. And a fire specialty! Should have seen that one coming. Anyway. On to his current idol:
"We should look up Sai!" he whispered excitedly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:46 pm
"Say his name, then," the Shadow Mage replied with a chuckle.
"Dremmeur... Sai!" Ty whispered, and waited for the machine to respond.
"Dremmeur Sai, member of Outlander Confederation. Drakken. Threat class 8, do not engage without heavy support.
Known strengths: Fire breath, class 8; class 10 physical capabilities - possible violation of inability of Drakken to call upon magic; eyepatch conceals a mage's eye, giving him access to the ability to activate a third eye; mastery of several anti-mage fighting styles.
Known weaknesses: Dremmeur is highly susceptible to ranged magic and ERROR: INFORMATION REDACTED UNDER UNKNOWN CODE.
Biography: Dremmeur Sai was born on the Platforms in 1994, to INFORMATION MISSING. SEEKING NEXT AREA OF INTACT INFORMATION.
ERROR. YOU DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT CLEARANCE. RETURNING TO ARCHIVES."
"Insufficient clearance...? This is the Captain's code, though. Wow. Uh. What next, then?" the shadow mage asked.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:41 pm
"Fyrin mal'Reist?" Cassandra tried hesitantly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:44 pm
"The file on Fyrin mal'Reist is classified. You require higher clearance."
"I'm noticing a pattern here...." the shadow mage muttered. "What's going on?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:47 pm
"I wonder if... Paul McCulloch," Cassandra declared.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:48 am
Paul's voice came from the computer. "My file is sealed under my X7 clearance."
"... This is getting boring. I figure anyone on our ship should work, at least, though," the shadow mage spoke with a sigh.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:32 am
"You mean you can't get into those files at all? You haven't any idea how to break through or anything?" Cassandra inquired. "Why wouldn't McCulloch want anyone to actually hear about himself or Sai or Simpson or... weird. Anyway... Rose Le'Blanc... or however the hell you pronounce that."
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:53 pm
Information blocking? That was usually a bad sign. In an informational commune, hiding information was a high crime, something that was almost true amongst Clockies. While not necessarily a commune, the rapid transference of knowledge was usually required if one wanted to stay alive and at optimum efficiency.
In addition, blocked knowledge usually meant that something was going on that the blocker did not want anyone to know about. Tracing most of it back to the root, it seemed that McCulloch was the one who was blocking off data, provided that it had been there in the first place. It was possible that some information had been corrupted or deleted before, though unlikely.
Isaac's mind was in total processing mode as he waited to hear more about Rose, the White Witch.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:55 pm
"Rose LeBlanc
Rank: Classified
Present Occupation: Classified
Service Record: Classified
Known Strengths: Classified
Known Weaknesses: Classified
Biography: Classified."
"Oh, what the <********>. That makes no sense, how can the ship's engineer have a file the captain can't read? What's going on?" the shadow mage groaned. "What's next, Captain can't read her own file?"
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