Summary:Veronica catches up with Io on her upgrade work and the data efforts she is putting together to help RESCUE and REACT with their cases. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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"Alright. I know Goliath works differently. So I can't just do all of the assembly the way I would for Posse's limbs and systems. But I thought if I came up with pieces, with ideas, you could review them and approve which ones you would like to include? Then we could work together?" Veronica offers, as she rolls to a stop near one of Io's many workstations.
As promised, Io has her own lab space at RESCUE, and has been well supported in her goals. Their only requirement has been that she help them with their goals, when they can agree to align. Like the mission against the AIM convoy. For now, Veronica is staying out from 'underfoot' during questioning, allowing the systems to record everything and just going over the intel gained afterwards.
"I had an idea about building a fail-over shielded power supply, to make him more resistant to a future EMP surge." Veronica brings up those designs first. "And I had a few ideas about potentially integrating some of our enhanced non-lethal weapons systems. I'm not sure how interested in those you would be."
Io has many roles she plays in her life. Some are for RESCUE. Some are for herself. Some are for her little electronic friends, of which Goliath is probably 'top dog', in more ways than one.
Presently, she is playing a few roles - that of a RESCUE person, that of a grease monkey, and a haphazard on-the-fly engineer in her current workstation - which is a large space in one of the garages she more or less invited herself into and essentially 'took over' and nobody had either enough nerve or enough reason to push her out.
Said project in said garage is a retired military APC from what appears to be the 1970's. Where she got it from is anyone's guess as it never appeared as a line item in any of the budgetary submissions.
Presently covered in grease, dressed in overalls that, by the way she wears them, gives some credence to there being some 'attractiveness' to girls who wear them as there is nearly all skin underneath.
She wipes her nose, smudging it even more in grease, looks from Veronica to the mess of an engine that's laying on the floor, deconstructed. "Depends what he wants," she tells Veronica, after mulling it over a few short seconds with a half-shrug, "Doesn't it?"
Veronica is happy enough with that explanation. Her own response is simply, "Maybe so, but you're the one who is going to have to tell me; I don't speak Goliath, Io." So the woman in the wheelchair waits for feedback; she's not up for getting grease on herself just now. Not until they have a plan, at least.
"I can make this EMP resistant. I can build it back from the ground up, and make him better than he ever was." Apparently that's what she's doing, by all the odd parts sitting around, and a large stack of boxes that just have marker written on them like '2001 Motherboards' and 'parts for Faraday cages' and other such scrawl. "Be a traveling workstation for RESCUE, among other things." Io shrugs, once, "But, I'll ask him and let you know what he says," she promises. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to go offline again."
Of course Goliath wouldn't want to go offline again; neither would Posse, which is why they did all that hard work for her upgrades a while back. Those have informed Veronica's plans for Goliath as well.
"Have you had a chance to start sifting through those reams of data?" Roni inquires, while she brings up a few more engineering sketches and outlines for Io's - and Goliath's? - examination.
In truth the encryption used on the data is quite impressive, in fact it was essentially impossible to get some of the information until it occurred to Io that the Cyberian has been using command phrases and such from older sci-fi movies. Most notably the detonation command at the Kennel 'Emergency Cancellation Archimedes', that's from the 1957 movie Forbidden Planet. Eventually a pattern relating to the movie was found and applied as a cipher key she learned quite a few interesting details.
First - the Cyberian is rather nerdy, but then…most hacker types are. Second - though Io is a better cyberpath, this enemy is VERY good at encryption and ciphers. Third - there's some local businessmen, mid-level police, and customs agents on the payroll, and their banking is in offshore accounts.
One thing is a bit obscure, but could be relevant - there's a lot of shipments that went to a island off the coast of Greenland. Makes little sense, which of course is what makes it stand out.
"That? Oh. Yeah," It takes Io a few moments to even recall what Veronica is talking about, and her face squenches up a bit, "Sorry. Meant to send that info to you but got distracted. Anyways, took me a little bit to figure out the cipher to the encryption, had to run a few programs for a few days to do it. Anyways, long story short, this group is pretty well set up. Got a bankroll with some influential businessmen and quite a few cops on their payroll, and customs agents. Probably smuggling illegal deli meat from Italy." She pauses, squinting her eyes, "Did you know that's really a thing? Anyways. Sorry. They've got a few offshore accounts, just like in the old spy movies, and they seem to really like Greenland, for some reason. Send a lot of shit there."
Veronica listens, considering, and nods. "Well, we'll need to put together a plan to get some humblebees up there to take a look around, see if we can spot anything worth investigating." In-flight refueling for humblebees? That … was not on her drawing board just yet. Changes, they keep comin'!
"I guess we're going to have to pass along the intel you have on the cops and businessmen to someone. Possibly multiple someones. For an investigation." Roni does not love this; she wants to bring these people down herself, but she has to recognize she cannot do it all, and eventually authorities are going to have to be involved. Posse will insist, given she is also a cop with the PCB.
But then Roni has a different idea. "Actually, can you put together that part of the data on a thumb drive for me?" She remembers what Hank and Martin had to say … and Catseye is someone she trusts. They said Catseye has someone with resources and connections, someone who can use this data. That could work.
"Thank you for doing the hard work of poring through the data. I know it was a pain, and I really appreciate it." And honestly Roni didn't come down here to upgrade Goliath as a bribe. But if it works to prove this is a two-sided relationship? So be it!
"Sure. I'm about done for today working on Karl," Io says, "At least for now. Gotta head home and see what parts I have, and what I need to look for in scrapyards and such now that I've got a good idea of what I'm going to do here. Once I get Karl up and running, then if you want to add anything into the mix, you can let me know. Like a storage facility for your humblebees, or an automatic elephant tranq gun that can pop out of the roof, or something. I don't know what all you want." Io waves a greasy hand, but grins, fractionally just for a moment. "I'll have Goliath bring you the drive, and his answer tonight, after I get home, yeah?"
Veronica chuckles softly at that. "Sure, if you like. That works for me, at least." She doesn't bring up - again - that RESCUE is quite happy and capable of coming up with those parts for this 'Karl' project; having done so already, she is done because she doesn't want to be a nag. If part of the fun of this for Io is rifling through junkyards, so be it. She has seen worse by far. "When you get a chance, obviously, if you can put in some time crunching on the data we pulled from the AIM convoy as well, that would be great. But I look forward to the answers. Anything you need?"
"A fountain machine," Io answers, deadpan and serious. Hey, Veronica is rich, and Io likes her soda. She points, "Could put one right there. OR better yet, make it portable, so I could add some RC to it and get it on wheels, and it could follow me around. Other than that, I'm good."
"We actually already have bots that bring in snacks, and have coolers onboard. But we can get a fountain machine, I think." That would allow them to customize the syrups used to offer healthier options, as well as classics; Veronica can get behind that in a hurry. "Given the tanks and such required, I think the fountain should stay stationary, and just let the bots retrieve and carry."
Io gives Veronica a 'thumbs-up', and then moves over to a bit of paste-gunk and begins to apply it to her hands to 'wash off' the grease. "Need anything else while I'm here?" She asks, in a friendly enough tone. LUckily, Io appears to be in one of her better moods. Then again, nobody's hit them with an EMP in the last couple weeks, so there's that.
"Other than whatever you can manage to scrape out of that AIM data? No, I don't think so. Not right now, at least. Thank you, again, for all of your help." Veronica offers. She leaves her pad with the various proposed enhancements for Goliath behind for Io to take with her when she leaves, either to consider herself or to show to Goliath. If that's really a thing.