Articles - Sworn to Secrecy - Part 6

Part Six

January 3nd, 29843
Rome District, Omni-Pol Building
Office 13, Internal Security Division
6:14PM RST*

The briefing had been short, they all knew a Core Database had been hacked and the potential for disaster was high. Captain Ceasar and Lieutenant Uribe had agreed on the course of action for both teams.

The Bureau of Investigation Division team would go to the old subway terminal where they would look for any clue as to whom may have used it. Meanwhile the Internal Security Division team would go through the holo records of security cameras of the area near the terminal to create a list of possible suspects.

They still did not have an exact time frame to work from, since the anomaly had been originally detected around 1PM the previous day they had to assume it could have been done earlier based on the automated scans the security system does. Their best estimate was that the breach could had taken place between 6AM and 1PM.

Shaking hands, both leaders went to work.

Within the hour. a room was set up for with several terminals next to each other, allowing the ease of information sharing among the Internal Security team. It was going to be a long night.

Sergeant Nerkath and the Lieutenant quickly aquired access to the security cams and their footage. Hours of footage with thousands of people walking around was not something neither the Sergeant or his squad was looking forward to look at. They were reviewing recordings from six different cameras.

Using face scanning nano-programs to compare holo-pics of possible culprits, after the first few hours of work they had a small list of suspects. Unfortunately most of those listed did not seem to have either the skill or level of access to hack the terminal. However, they didn't want to take chances, and orders of arrest were issued on all suspects.

As midnight was approaching fast, one of the officers called the Sergeant over to him.

"What is it Lee?quot;

"I'm not sure, but I think I got something. When I ran a secondary scan to compare with our own 'Pol records, I got a few hits."

"Well, we are supposed to be out there Lee, anything out of the ordinary?quot;

"Yes. Captain Oscar Reyes seems to have been near an entrance to the sewers which leads to the hacked terminal. Because of the position of the camera, it's impossible to actually be sure that he did enter. I accessed the Captain's system, and he apparently had done a level two security check on all the cameras in the area. I can't see any report or request for him to do that, there was no reason for him to do such a check unless... he was doing recon."

"God damn, where is he now?quot;

"As far as I can tell, he is home. Should I send a team to retrieve him sir?quot;

"No, we don't have enough evidence and the man has rank. I want you to make a quick report and send it to Captain Ceasar right now. If his team can get evidence that Reyes was at the terminal, it will be solid evidence for us to act on."

"Yes sir, I'll get that done right away."

"Hmm, in second thought..."

"Sir?quot;

"We can't arrest him, but we have enough to put him under surveillance, have Mendo and Za track all his movements. I want to know where he goes, who he talks to, when and where. If he as much as sneezes, I want to know about it."

"Yes sir!"

There was one thing which Sergeant Nerkath despised more than anything, and it was traitors. If what was discovered was true, then there was a dirty lowlife wearing the same badge he did. That, was unnacceptable.

Omni-Entertainmnt District
Somewhere in the sewers
10:07AM RST

Almost sixteen hours had passed since the briefing, and the BoI team had made little progress. The hacked terminal was clean, no fingerprints or DNA residuo. No tools or devices had been left behind and not even a hair was found. Whomever had use it, was good. Two Omni-Com engineers had been working on fixing the terminal for several hours.

"Excuse me." said Sergeant Jackson.

"Yes sir?quot; replied one of the techs.

"I know you already told me it would take days to repair it, and that until then you can't fully verify the connection to the hacked core. Is there a way to check what access code was used?quot;

"Well... I could try and do a level six deep scan of the burned NCU, but I can't guarantee results sir. The damage is extensive and the scan in itself could cause further data deterioration. Also, I'd need my Chief to approve it."

"I see, would you mind calling him? I'd greatly appreciate if you could do that."

"Sure thing sir, just give me a few minutes."

The Sergeant nodded, perhape there was some hope for a clue. A tap on his shoulder got his attention, and turning around he saw Officer Dau holding a datapad.

"The ISD boys just sent a report, you need to read this Sarge." handing over the pad.

The report was short, but to the point. They now had a possible suspect, one of their own. The BoI specialized in rooting out the bad seeds within the corporation, but it was always unpleasant to find out a member of Omni-Pol involved in such illegal activities.

It didn't take long for the engineer to get permission. Within fifteen minutes he had something.

"Sergeant , I did a full scan as you wanted."

"And?quot;

"I found that the person who accessed this terminal used not one, but two codes. The first was a legitimate code to get in, the second code is a fake one to override the first after the person was done with the terminal to cause a lockout. It's an old trick which works well if after doing it the NCU is either removed or destroyed. Because this is an older model, removing the NCU would have taken too long for the criminal. He had to burn the NCU, and he almost succeeded. The scan shows that 87% of the stored data was destroyed."

"So, the codes are lost?quot;

"Fortunately for you sir, they were stored in the remaining 13% which I was able to access. I've stored a copy of the codes in this new NCU and I've send another copy to my Chief." The Captain smiles as the tech gives him a crucial piece of evidence.

"Thank you very much, you've done the corporation a great service."

"Just doing my job sir, if you don't mind we still have a lot of work to do." Nodding, the Sergeant walks back to his team.

"What do you have there Supp?quot; asked Captain Caesar.

Holding the NCU in his hand, he answers his superior.

"Well chief, one of the 'Com guys just got us the access codes used on the terminal. It may be the break we've been looking for."

A smile begins to surface on the Captain's face, knowing his friend may be correct. With this information the investigation could finally get back on track.

"Have Dark do a match search for the codes used."

Nodding, the Sergeant walks over to Officer Dau and hands her the NCU; relaying their Captain's order. She immediatly begins the search.

It takes less than three minutes for a match to appear.

"Serge, one of the codes has been verified to be authentic. It belongs to a Captain Oscar Reyes. The same man ISD told us about."

"Relay that info to Lieutenant Uribe immediately, also a copy to Sergeant Nerkath. Let me talk to the Cap and see what is our next move."

The Sergeant walks over to Captain Ceasar to update him on the situation.

*= Rubi-Ka Standard Time

Thanks to all the Rimor roleplayers who have agreed to appear in this mini-series.

Last updated on 01.30.2012 by Windguaerd
Luis Odicio
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