Planning for a Pruning

Log Title: Planning for a Pruning

Characters: Major Bludd, Over Kill, Tele-Viper 742

Location: Comm-Tower - Cobra Island

Year: 2009

TP: Non-TP

Comm-Tower - Cobra Island
Situated at the top of the building, this level is dedicated to high-tech monitoring and communications. Cobra agents worldwide keep in touch with the main base by means of the advanced equipment here, as well as the skilled technicians who operate it.

Tele-Viper 742 is seated at the main comm terminal with her helmet off. Nearby is a different helm; it's the one Pennington used to access the BATNet.

Major Bludd steps out of the lift and looks around the place. It's not often he has cause to come up to this level of headquarters, but with the Tele-Vipers working on the BATnet problem, he's decided to come up and get an in-person situation report.

Pennington smiles slightly when she spots Bludd arriving. She's reported to the full extent she can; unfortunately, she won't be able to shed much light on the hacker. It would seem that Over Kill has that information. "Good evening," she greets.

Major Bludd nods to Pennington. "Evening," he responds. "I read your report," he says, frowning. "Disturbing. It would seem my fears are realised. But I'm confident we have the tools and the talent to set things right."

Pennington seems...less worried by it, perhaps because she's convinced there's sufficient talent within the organization to route out some script kiddie. "I'm positive a Techno-Viper could remedy this problem in short order, as well as make it *considerably* more difficult for future attempts."

Major Bludd smiles at her confident words. "Anyone in particular you'd recommend?" he asks.

"Zhang's really good. I mean, REALLY good. That's Techno 428. If he's got too much on his ticket load, I'd go with Andrychuk, who's, uh...173," Pennington muses. "They could get this done in a day or two at most. The others, I'm not really sure as I don't know their track record with ticket completions."

Major Bludd takes out a small notebook and scrawls a few things. "Zhang, Andrychuk," he mutters. "Thank you, Pennington. I'll look into this. I'm sure we can make adjustments to ticket loads if need be."

"You're very welcome. Just wish that I could help more. I mean, I can diagnose the problem, but if it isn't comm-related, it's better off being secured by the ones who do such work on a daily basis," Pennington says. "And it could be helpful that Over Kill seems to know who the infiltrator is."

"He does?" If that bit of information had been in Pennington's report, Bludd had missed it. "I'll have to discuss that with him. Once we sew up this security breach, we can consider if ... other measures should be taken to prevent something like this happening again."

Pennington nods. "Over-Kill told me that the hacker was a friend of his creator...someone he was very familiar with, apparently. Maybe a confidence artist?" she muses.

Over Kill listens to the conversations around it, tilting its head from left to right. "Ahh yes. I k now who it is. Bat Queen. Malaysia. She was... a friend of my creators." he lowers his head almost ashamed.

Major Bludd looks at Over Kill. "A friend... of Angela?" he asks.

Over Kill winces at the name. "Yes. Angela. Im not like Angela. I do not want BATopia. I am loyal to Cobra, I follow my directives." he sounds terrified for some reason.

This is the area where Over Kill can shed the most light on the perp. Pennington merely listens, turning her attention to Over Kill.

Major Bludd strokes his beard, ignoring the fearful protests of the android. "What can you tell me about this Malaysia, Over Kill?"

Over Kill murmurs "Not much. I know my predacessor was amored with her. Wanted to make her its BAT Queen when BATopia was complete. She talked to me. Showed me how she can get inside the network. She tries to show she can do that anytime, when we talk on the dalnet. Perhaps she thinks she's the rightful heir and I'm just one of her BATs."

Major Bludd grunts, sneering. "The BATs belong to Cobra. Not to Angela, and not to this Malaysia character. Pennington thinks repairing the damage will be simple for a Techno-Viper, so I'm going to assign one to the task." He begins to pace back and forth. "We'll get this security hole sewn up and then we'll find out who this interloper is and make certain she's not a threat any longer."

Over Kill nods "Sir, yes sir. I killed Angela. She probably still lives in medical at Columbia. I dont know sir. And I dont know about Malaysia. She will find out that I am not Angela and I do not accept intruders as easy." he shakes a bit. "I do hope this isn't going to be a mark against my record."

Major Bludd smiles darkly at Over Kill. "I helped," he says, patting the sidearm on his hip. "And Colombia base is no more, Over Kill. And as for your record, only if the security hole was facilitated by your actions should you worry about that." He gives the android a meaningful look.

Over Kill nods "I know. She was stabbed inside me by Nightgaunt. Then I took her out and you helped me." the idea of Angela roaming freely around an abandoned Cobra base is the stuff of nightmares for OVer Kill. "I did not let her in willingly if that is what you suspect." its tone hisses slightly.

"I should certainly hope not," Bludd replies cooly. "I'm not here to offer you platitudes. I want to know how this Malasyia or 'Rose' or whoever she is -- if she's even really a she -- got into the BATnet and I want that entrance sealed." He pauses for a moment. "I wonder if any of Angela's memory data is stored anywhere."

Over Kill tilts it's head. "I have copies in my lab. With permission, I can look through them." it seems to back away a bit. "Sir, I will take care of the intruder. Its a personal invasion, and I will handle this...as befitting a BAT commander."

"Send a copy to Technical," Bludd instructs. "I don't want you digging around in them right now. As for retribution," he continues, "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. You'll have a part in that operation. As a BAT Commander."

Over Kill nods "Yes, sir." he says. "She will pay for what she did. This is a..personal thing. She expected that I'd be like my predacessor. Vectors do not handle intruders well." he pauses. "I'm going to run an antivirus, try to chip at the code. I think I should shut down until technical looks at me. I'll leave the Vectors to 6."

Major Bludd nods his agreement. "That's wise," he says. "Will the intruder be able to gain access to the Vectors without you active? Or should all units on the BATnet be shut down?"

Over Kill starts to curl up right there, ready to shut down. "No. It should not. Without the central node it would have no access." with that the machine simply shuts down.